Single-crystal aluminum nitride nanomechanical resonators

Aluminum nitride is a light, stiff, piezoelectrically active material that can be epitaxially grown on single-crystal Si. AlN is beginning to play a r ole in the integration of semiconducting electronic and surface acoustic wa ve devices, and may prove useful for the integration of other types of mech anical devices as well. We describe the growth and subsequent electron-beam patterning and etching of epitaxial AlN-on-silicon films into nanomechanic al flexural resonators. We have measured resonators with fundamental mechan ical resonance frequencies above 80 MHz, and quality factors in excess of 2 0 000. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.