Impact of surface roughness on the stability of nanoelectromechanical pressure sensors in the Casimir regime

TL;DR

This paper investigates how surface roughness affects the stability of nanoelectromechanical pressure sensors operating in the Casimir regime, revealing that stable equilibrium positions are largely unaffected by roughness.

Contribution

It provides a theoretical analysis of the influence of surface roughness on sensor stability, incorporating Lifshitz theory to model Casimir forces in nanoscale pressure sensors.

Findings

Stable equilibrium positions are nearly independent of surface roughness.

Unstable equilibrium positions shift to larger separations with increased roughness.

Results inform design of smaller nanoelectromechanical pressure sensors.

Abstract

The stability of nanoelectromechanical pressure sensors working in the Casimir regime is considered with account of surface roughness on both the sensor membrane and the ground plate. The equilibrium positions of the sensor membrane are found from the balance between the external measured, elastic, electric pressures, and the Casimir pressure computed by means of the Lifshitz theory. It is shown that the stable equilibrium position of the sensor membrane is nearly independent of the surface roughness, whereas its unstable equilibrium position is shifted to larger membrane-plate separations. The use of these results for creatign pressure sensors with further shrinked dimensions is discussed.