We provide an overview of our work where carbon-based nanostructures have been applied to twodimensional
(2D) planar and three-dimensional (3D) vertically-oriented nano-electro-mechanical (NEM)
switches. In the first configuration, laterally oriented single-walled nanotubes (SWNTs) synthesized using
thermal chemical vapor deposition (CVD) were implemented for forming bridge-type 2D NEMS switches,
where switching voltages were on the order of a few volts. In the second configuration, vertically oriented
carbon nanofibers (CNFs) synthesized using plasma-enhanced (PE) CVD have been explored for their
potential application in 3D NEMS. We have performed nanomechanical measurements on such vertically
oriented tubes using nanoindentation to determine the mechanical properties of the CNFs. Electrostatic
switching was demonstrated in the CNFs synthesized on refractory metallic nitride substrates, where a
nanoprobe was used as the actuating electrode inside a scanning-electron-microscope. The switching voltages
were determined to be in the tens of volts range and van der Waals interactions at these length scales appeared
significant, suggesting such structures are promising for nonvolatile memory applications. A finite element
model was also developed to determine a theoretical pull-in voltage which was compared to experimental
results.
High Q resonators are a critical component of stable, low-noise communication systems, radar, and
precise timing applications such as atomic clocks. In electronic resonators based on Si integrated circuits,
resistive losses increase as a result of the continued reduction in device dimensions, which decreases their Q
values. On the other hand, due to the mechanical construct of bulk acoustic wave (BAW) and surface
acoustic wave (SAW) resonators, such loss mechanisms are absent, enabling higher Q-values for both BAW
and SAW resonators compared to their electronic counterparts.1 The other advantages of mechanical
resonators are their inherently higher radiation tolerance, a factor which makes them attractive for NASA's
extreme environment planetary missions, for example to the Jovian environments where the radiation doses
are at hostile levels.2 Despite these advantages, both BAW and SAW resonators suffer from low resonant
frequencies and they are also physically large which precludes their integration into miniaturized electronic
systems.
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