Nanoscale mechanical resonators and oscillators

In this thesis the physics of nanoscale mechanical resonators and oscillators is studied. We discuss two types of resonators. First, a top-down fabricated doubly clamped beam resonator with an integrated piezoelectric actuator is introduced. The second type of resonators are based on layered two-dimensional materials, such as graphene and...

Carbon nanotubes as electromechanical resonators: Single-electron tunneling, nonlinearity, and high-bandwidth readout

A carbon nanotube (CNT) is a remarkable material and can be thought of as a single-atom thick cylinder of carbon atoms capped of with a semisphere. This is called a single-walled CNT and, depending on how the cylinder is rolled up, CNTs are either semiconducting or metallic. A CNT is made into a mechanical resonator by suspending it between two...

Josephson effects in carbon nanotube mechanical resonators and graphene

Electromechanics of suspended nanowires

Magneto-mechanical dynamics at the nanoscale

Gyromagnetic experiments, the Barnett effect (magnetization by rotation) and the Einstein-de Haas effect (rotation by magnetization), were initially devised to test the molecular current hypothesis and determine the electron g-factor at the dawn of quantum mechanics. Advances in fabrication techniques and an ever increasing control of materials...

Dynamic Characterization of Silicon Nitride Cantilevers

This thesis describes a series of experiments on dynamical characterization of silicon nitride cantilevers. These devices play an important role in micro-and nanoelectromechanical systems (MEMS and NEMS). They consist of a mechanical part, a sensor or actuator, and an electronic part for readout and control. The core of NEMS and MEMS, the so...

Mechanical systems at the nanoscale

This thesis describes experiments that were done with a wide range of nano(electro)mechanical systems (NEMS). These devices are promising candidates to study mechanics in the quantum regime. The experiments range from AFM measurements on few-layer graphene nanodrums, electrical detection of flexural modes of suspended carbon nanotubes both at...