There has been remarkable interest in nanomechanical computing elements that can potentially lead to a new era in computation due to their re-configurability, high integration density, and high switching speed. Here we present a nanomechanical device capable of dynamically performing logic operations (NOR, NOT, XNOR, XOR, and AND). The concept is based on the active tuning of the resonance frequency of a doubly-clamped nanoelectromechanical beam resonator through electro-thermal actuation. The performance of this re-configurable logic device is examined at elevated temperatures, ranging from 25 °C to 85 °C, demonstrating its resilience for most of the logic operations. The proposed device can potentially achieve switching rate in μs, switching energy in nJ, and an integration density up to 10 per cm. The practical realization of this re-configurable device paves the way for nano-element-based mechanical computing.

The current transistor-based computing circuits use multiple interconnected transistors to realize a single Boolean logic gate. This leads to higher power requirements and delayed computing. Transistors are not suitable for applications in harsh environments and require complicated thermal management systems due to excessive heat dissipation. Also, transistor circuits lack the ability to dynamically reconfigure their functionality in real time, which is desirable for enhanced computing capability. Further, the miniaturization of transistors to improve computational power is reaching its ultimate physical limits. As a step towards overcoming the limitations of transistor-based computing, here we demonstrate a reprogrammable universal Boolean logic gate based on a nanoelectromechanical cantilever (NC) oscillator. The fundamental XOR, AND, NOR, OR and NOT logic gates are condensed in a single NC, thereby reducing electrical interconnects between devices. The device is dynamically switchable between any logic gates at the same drive frequency without the need for any change in the circuit. It is demonstrated to operate at elevated temperatures minimizing the need for thermal management systems. It has a tunable bandwidth of 5 MHz enabling parallel and dynamically reconfigurable logic device for enhanced computing.

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We demonstrate a simple and flexible technique to efficiently activate micro/nano-electromechanical systems (MEMS/NEMS) resonators at their fundamental and higher order vibration modes. The method is based on the utilization of the amplified voltage across an inductor, L, of an LC tank resonant circuit to actuate the MEMS/NEMS resonator. By matching the electrical and mechanical resonances, significant amplitude amplification is reported across the resonators terminals. We show experimentally amplitude amplification up to twelve times, which is demonstrated to efficiently excite several vibration modes of a microplate MEMS resonator and the fundamental mode of a NEMS resonator.

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We present the conceptual design and initial development of the hysteretic deformable mirror (HDM). The HDM is a completely new approach to the design and operation of deformable mirrors (DMs) for wavefront correction in advanced imaging systems. The key technology breakthrough is the application of highly hysteretic piezoelectric material in combination with a simple electrode layout to efficiently define single actuator pixels. The set-and-forget nature of the HDM, which is based on the large remnant deformation of the newly developed piezomaterial, facilitates the use of time division multiplexing to address the single pixels without the need for high update frequencies to avoid pixel drift. This, in combination with the simple electrode layout, paves the way for upscaling to extremely high pixel numbers (≥128 × 128) and pixel density (100∕mm 2 ) DMs, which is of great importance for high spatial frequency wavefront correction in some of the most advanced imaging systems in the world.

This study investigates the effect of air damping on in-plane silicon micro/nano-resonators sandwiched between two electrodes (two ports) for sensing and actuation. Experimental measurements are presented for the quality factor (Q) as varying pressure for several case studies of clamped–clamped and clamped–free micro/nano-beam resonators of various geometrical parameters and airgap dimensions. The focus of this work is on large airgap dimensions, where typically squeeze-film damping is assumed negligible. In addition to the fundamental first mode, several results are shown when the resonators are operated near their second or third modes of vibrations. Several curves are generated to show the dependence of the quality factor on the resonator size, boundary condition, and mode order. Several analytical models are applied to investigate the dominant dissipations mechanisms and the models capability to predict Q on both low and higher pressure regimes, and the results are compared to the experimental data.

This paper reports on low pressure chemical vapor deposited in-situ boron doped polycrystalline germanium-silicon layers with 70% germanium content. The effect of diborane partial pressure on the properties of the GeSi alloy is investigated. The obtained high boron concentration results in resistivity values less than 1 m -cm. The layers deposited at low partial pressures of B 2 H 6 exhibit very low stress down to -3 MPa. With increasing B 2 H 6 partial pressure first the stress changes from tensile to compressive, followed by a phase transition from polycrystalline to amorphous. The highly doped, low stress poly-Ge 0.7 Si 0.3 layers deposited at 430 • C are further applied in high-Q microelectromechanical resonators envisaged for above-IC integration with CMOS.