Graphene-aluminum nitride nano plate resonators

The physical and electrical properties of the metal electrodes fundamentally limit volume and frequency scaling of conventional Micro and Nano Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS/NEMS) piezoelectric resonators. Furthermore, it has been shown that metal electrode damping and interface strain are responsible for the Q limits in conventional AlN Lamb wave resonators. In this thesis a stepping stone towards the development of metal-free piezoelectric NEMS resonators for ultra-high resolution and fast resonant sensing is set by integrating a 2D graphene electrode on top of an AlN resonant nano-plate in lieu of a relatively thicker and heavier metal electrode. Despite a bottom metal interdigital electrode is still employed in this first prototype, the fabricated Graphene-Aluminum Nitride Nano Plate Resonator (G-AlN NPR) is characterized by reduced mass (~43%) and volume (~16%), increased sound velocity, hence resonant frequency (~23%), and improved device figure of merit (kt2·Q≈18 ) compared to a conventional AlN NPR device.;The achieved high electromechanical performance of the ultra-thin, low mass and high frequency G-AlN nanomechanical resonator enabled the implementation of a low phase noise (-87 dBc/Hz 1kHz offset and -125 dBc/Hz floor) single transistor oscillator. The experimental results also demonstrate the great potential of the proposed technology for the implementation of a new class of ultra-sensitive and low noise G-AlN resonant sensors.