Suspending highly doped silicon-on-insulator wires for applications in nanomechanics

We report on a new method to build suspended silicon nanowires in highly do ped silicon films in silicon-on-insulator substrates. The beams are defined by high-resolution, low-energy electron-beam lithography using a two-layer positive electron resist. Micromachining techniques including dry and wet etching are applied to pattern the structures. We show first low-temperatur e measurements of these novel devices indicating electron-phonon interactio n.