Measurement of mechanical resonance and losses in nanometer scale silicon wires

We present data on nanofabricated suspended silicon wires driven at resonan ce. The wires are electrostatically driven and detected optically. We have observed wires with widths as small as 45 nm and resonant frequencies as hi gh as 380 MHz. We see a strong dependence of the resonant quality factor on the surface to volume ratio. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S000 3-6951(99)00633-6].