Simultaneous Electrical and Optical Readout of Graphene-Coated High Q Silicon Nitride Resonators

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a novel approach to read out the motion of silicon nitride resonators coated with graphene using both electrical and optical methods, enabling enhanced control and sensing capabilities.

Contribution

It introduces a fabrication of graphene-coated silicon nitride resonators with dual electrical and optical readout, combining the mechanical robustness of silicon nitride with graphene's sensing properties.

Findings

Graphene coating preserves silicon nitride's mechanical properties.

Optical absorption by graphene enables position-dependent damping.

Resonant frequency can be tuned via optical cavity positioning.

Abstract

We have fabricated and tested mechanical resonators consisting of a single-atomic-layer of graphene deposited on suspended silicon nitride membranes. With the addition of the graphene layer we retain the desirable mechanical properties of silicon nitride but utilize the electrical and optical properties of graphene to transduce resonant motion by both optical and electrical means. By positioning the graphene-on-silicon-nitride drums in a tunable optical cavity we observe position dependent damping and resonant frequency control of the devices due to optical absorption by graphene.