Nonlinear Damping in Graphene Resonators

TL;DR

This paper presents a continuum mechanical model for graphene resonators, revealing how mode coupling causes both linear and nonlinear damping, with tunable regimes affecting the quality factor.

Contribution

It introduces a microscopic mechanism for dissipation in graphene resonators, highlighting the role of mode coupling and external parameter tuning.

Findings

Coupling between flexural modes and in-plane phonons causes damping.

External parameters can switch damping from linear to nonlinear.

Quality factor behavior depends on damping regime.

Abstract

Based on a continuum mechanical model for single-layer graphene we propose and analyze a microscopic mechanism for dissipation in nanoelectromechanical graphene resonators. We find that coupling between flexural modes and in-plane phonons leads to linear and nonlinear damping of out-of-plane vibrations. By tuning external parameters such as bias and ac voltages, one can cross over from a linear to a nonlinear-damping dominated regime. We discuss the behavior of the effective quality factor in this context.