Nanoelectromechanical resonators based on hafnia–zirconia–alumina superlattices with gigahertz spectrum coverage

Phys.org  August 2, 2023 Nanomechanical resonators that can operate in the super high frequency (3–30 GHz) or the extremely high frequency (30–300 GHz) regime could be of use in the development of stable frequency references, wideband spectral processors, and high-resolution resonant sensors. However, such operation requires the dimensions of the mechanical resonators to be reduced to tens of nanometres, and current devices typically rely on transducers, for which miniaturization and chip-scale integration are challenging. Researchers at the University of Florida integrated nanoelectromechanical transducers created using 10-nm-thick ferroelectric hafnium zirconium oxide (Hf0.5Zr0.5O2) films on silicon and aluminium nitride membranes. They could yield resonators […]

A pair of gold flakes creates a self-assembled resonator

Science Daily  December 2, 2021 Self-ordering in molecular and biological systems typically involves short-range hydrophobic and van der Waals interactions. An international team of researchers (Sweden, Russia) has found a way process for micrometre-scale self-assembly based on the joint action of attractive Casimir and repulsive electrostatic forces arising between charged metallic nanoflakes in an aqueous solution. This system forms a self-assembled optical Fabry–Pérot microcavity with a fundamental mode in the visible range (long-range separation distance about 100–200 nanometres) and a tunable equilibrium configuration. By placing an excitonic material in the microcavity region, they were able to realize hybrid light–matter states […]

A new information storage and processing device

Phys.org  July 29, 2021 An international team of researchers (USA – New York University, UC San Diego, France) combined the unique properties of quantum materials together with that of spintronic magnetic devices. They presented spin torque ferromagnetic resonance characteristics of a hybrid metal-insulator-transition oxide/ ferromagnetic metal nano constriction. Their samples incorporate vanadium trioxide (V2O3), with Ni, Permalloy (Ni80Fe20) and platinum layers patterned into a nano constriction geometry. The first order phase transition in V2O3 is shown to lead to systematic changes in the resonance response and hysteretic current control of the ferromagnetic resonance frequency. The output signal can be systematically […]

Innovative flat optics will usher the next technological revolution

EurekAlert  March 8, 2021 Critical challenges for real-world applications of flat optics technology are due to the limited operational efficiency in the visible region, on average lower than 60%, which originates from absorption losses in wavelength-thick structures and the realization of on-demand optical components for controlling vectorial light at visible frequencies simultaneously in both reflection and transmission and with a predetermined wavefront shape. Researcher in Saudi Arabia have developed an inverse design approach that allows the realization of highly efficient (up to 99%) ultrathin (down to 50 nm thick) optics for vectorial light control with broadband input–output responses in the visible […]

New photonics breakthrough

Science Daily  December 13, 2019 An international team of researchers (USA – City College of New York, Russia) has shown that long-range interactions in the metamaterial changes the common behavior of light waves forcing them to localize in space. The study shows that by controlling the degree of such interactions one can switch between trapped and extended (propagating) character of optical waves. The new approach to trap light allows the design of new types of optical resonators, which may have significant impact on antennas in smartphones and Wi-Fi routers, and optical chips in optoelectronics used for transferring data over the […]

One device, many frequencies: Researchers create a unique, tiny resonator

Science Daily  March 5, 2019 A typical resonator in an electronic device responds to one signal with one corresponding frequency. An international team of researchers (USA – Argonne National Laboratory, Michigan State University, Florida Institute of Technology, Israel, Sweden) has developed and demonstrated a nonlinear micromechanical resonator which vibrates with a spectrum consisting of multiple frequencies evenly spaced due to the nonlinear mode coupling, in spite of the fact that it is driven by a single frequency. The novel behavior results from a saddle node on an invariant circle (SNIC) bifurcation. The resonator is an ideal test bed to study […]