Ultrathin complex oxide nanomechanical resonators

Abstract

Complex oxide thin films and heterostructures exhibit a variety of electronic phases, often controlled by the mechanical coupling between film and substrate. Recently it has become possible to isolate epitaxially grown single-crystalline layers of these materials, enabling the study of their properties in the absence of interface effects. In this work, we use this technique to create nanomechanical resonators made out of SrTiO3 and SrRuO3. Using laser interferometry, we successfully actuate and measure the motion of the nanodrum resonators. By measuring the temperature-dependent mechanical response of the SrTiO3 resonators, we observe signatures of a structural phase transition, which affects both the strain and mechanical dissipation in the resonators. Here, we demonstrate the feasibility of integrating ultrathin complex oxide membranes for realizing nanoelectromechanical systems on arbitrary substrates and present a novel method of detecting structural phase transitions in these exotic materials.

Dynamics of 2D material membranes

“…It turned out later, however, that these observations were not limited to carbon-based NEMS, but were rather a characteristic of van-der-Waals nanomechanical resonators regardless of their chemical composition. Q-factors of the same magnitude have been observed in resonators made of transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDC) (MoS 2 [12,125], WSe 2 [109] (figure 7(b)), TaSe 2 [126], TaS 2 [127]), hBN [128,129], b-P [130], MPS 3 antiferromagnets [127] (FePS 3 , MnPS 3 , NiPS 3 ) and even in other ultrathin materials, such as membranes of coordination polymers [131] and complex oxides [132]. The temperature dependence of the Q-factor of some of these resonators has also been measured, and has consistently shown a similar trend as graphene [109,125,127,129,132] (figure 7).…”

Magnetic and electronic phase transitions probed by nanomechanical resonators

“…The technique is not only appealing for the characterisation of ultrathin membranes of antiferromagnetic and insulating materials that are difficult to characterize otherwise, but also for the development of device concepts exploiting the unique properties of the materials involved. It is anticipated that it can be applied to a large range of van der Waals materials 8,9 , 2D ferromagnets 29 , thin 2D complex oxide sheets 30,31 and organic antiferromagnets 32 .…”

Dynamics of 2D Material Membranes

“…7(b)), TaSe 2 126 , TaS 2 127 ), hBN 128,129 , b-P 130 , MPS 3 antiferromagnets 127 (FePS 3 , MnPS 3 , NiPS 3 ) and even in other ultrathin materials, such as membranes of coordination polymers 131 and complex oxides 132 . The temperature dependence of the Q-factor of some of these resonators has also been measured, and has consistently shown a similar trend as graphene 109,125,127,129,132 (Fig. 7).…”