Nanomechanical resonators operating at radio frequencies

We present our recent work on nanomachined electromechanical resonators app lied as mechanically flexible beams and tunneling contacts operating in the radio frequency regime. We mill discuss how to build Au/Si beams of length s varying from 1 to 4 mu m and width down to only 80 nm. The resonators are machined out of single-crystal silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrates. We w ill demonstrate how these nanometer devices can be used to mechanically tra nsfer only a few electrons. (C) 1999 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.