Mechanical stiffening, bistability, and bit operations in a microcantilever

TL;DR

This paper explores the nonlinear behavior of microcantilevers, revealing mechanical stiffening and bistability at high amplitudes, and demonstrates potential applications such as mechanical memory devices.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the nonlinear dynamics of microcantilevers, including the first demonstration of bistability and potential memory applications.

Findings

Mechanical stiffening observed at large amplitudes.

Bistability mapped as a function of drive parameters.

Demonstration of a mechanical memory device.

Abstract

We investigate the nonlinear dynamics of microcantilevers. We demonstrate mechanical stiffening of the frequency response at large amplitudes, originating from the geometric nonlinearity. At strong driving the cantilever amplitude is bistable. We map the bistable regime as a function of drive frequency and amplitude, and suggest several applications for the bistable microcantilever, of which a mechanical memory is demonstrated.