Determination of effective mechanical properties of a double-layer beam by means of a nano-electromechanical transducer

TL;DR

This study measures the mechanical properties of a double-layer nanobeam using a nano-electromechanical transducer, providing a model for designing multilayer systems in advanced electromechanical devices.

Contribution

It introduces an analytical double-layer model validated by experimental measurements of a silicon nitride and niobium nanobeam's properties.

Findings

Pre-stress and Young's modulus determined experimentally.

Model accurately predicts measured mechanical properties.

Potential for designing tunable multilayer electromechanical systems.

Abstract

We investigate the mechanical properties of a doubly-clamped, double-layer nanobeam embedded into an electromechanical system. The nanobeam consists of a highly pre-stressed silicon nitride and a superconducting niobium layer. By measuring the mechanical displacement spectral density both in the linear and the nonlinear Duffing regime, we determine the pre-stress and the effective Young's modulus of the nanobeam. An analytical double-layer model quantitatively corroborates the measured values. This suggests that this model can be used to design mechanical multilayer systems for electro- and optomechanical devices, including materials controllable by external parameters such as piezoelectric, magnetrostrictive, or in more general multiferroic materials.