Two-dimensional electron gas based actuation of piezoelectric AlGaN/GaN microelectromechanical resonators

Free-standing piezoelectric AlGaN/GaN beam resonators have been prepared on silicon substrates. The two-dimensional electron gas at the interface of the III/V heterostructure has been employed to act as back electrode for the piezoelectric active layer. The fundamental mode as well as higher order resonant modes of flexural vibration has been excited piezoelectrically and analyzed using optical laser–Doppler vibrometry. The experimental investigations were carried out under normal ambient conditions. The specific piezoelectric actuation scheme is described and the dependence of the measured resonant frequencies between 0.2 and 8.1 MHz on geometry and material parameters is investigated.

[1]  K. Lau,et al.  Surface acoustic wave device on AlGaN∕GaN heterostructure using two-dimensional electron gas interdigital transducers , 2007 .

[2]  M. Ladisch,et al.  Anomalous resonance in a nanomechanical biosensor , 2006, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[3]  K. Ekinci.  Electromechanical transducers at the nanoscale: actuation and sensing of motion in nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS). , 2005, Small.

[4]  Raj Mutharasan,et al.  Viscosity and density values from excitation level response of piezoelectric-excited cantilever sensors , 2007 .

[5]  J. Bläsing,et al.  Epitaxy of GaN on silicon—impact of symmetry and surface reconstruction , 2007 .

[6]  A. Pisano,et al.  Single-Chip Multiple-Frequency ALN MEMS Filters Based on Contour-Mode Piezoelectric Resonators , 2007, Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems.

[7]  M. Sepaniak,et al.  Cantilever transducers as a platform for chemical and biological sensors , 2004 .

[8]  Lester F. Eastman,et al.  Electronics and sensors based on pyroelectric AlGaN/GaN heterostructures , 2003 .

[9]  C. Nguyen.  MEMS technology for timing and frequency control , 2005, IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics and Frequency Control.

[10]  M. R. Freeman,et al.  Multifunctional Nanomechanical Systems via Tunably Coupled Piezoelectric Actuation , 2007, Science.

[11]  Farrokh Ayazi,et al.  Electronically Temperature Compensated Silicon Bulk Acoustic Resonator Reference Oscillators , 2007, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits.

[12]  Todd H. Stievater,et al.  All-optical micromechanical chemical sensors , 2006 .

[13]  F. Völklein,et al.  Microelectromechanical sensors for measuring gas pressure , 2008 .

[14]  O. Ambacher,et al.  Group III nitride and SiC based MEMS and NEMS: materials properties, technology and applications , 2007 .

[15]  S. Manalis,et al.  Weighing of biomolecules, single cells and single nanoparticles in fluid , 2007, Nature.

[16]  Andreas Schober,et al.  Piezoelectric actuation of (GaN/)AlGaN/GaN heterostructures , 2008 .

[17]  O. Ambacher,et al.  AlGaN/GaN-based MEMS with two-dimensional electron gas for novel sensor applications , 2008 .

[18]  Oliver Ambacher,et al.  Strain- and pressure-dependent RF response of microelectromechanical resonators for sensing applications , 2007 .

[19]  Andrew Cleland,et al.  External control of dissipation in a nanometer-scale radiofrequency mechanical resonator , 1999 .

[20]  Don L. DeVoe,et al.  Piezoelectric thin film micromechanical beam resonators , 2001 .

[21]  H. Craighead,et al.  Enumeration of DNA molecules bound to a nanomechanical oscillator. , 2005, Nano letters.

[22]  M. Roukes,et al.  Ultrasensitive nanoelectromechanical mass detection , 2004, cond-mat/0402528.