Condensed Matter Physics Seminar

Mechanics and Electronics at the Nanoscale - Approaching Quantum Limits

Rob Knobel
Queen's University

Time
Wed. January 19, 2005     10:30 AM     Stirling 501

Abstract

Exciting new advances in fabrication technology are allowing researchers to start making mechanical devices close to the nanometer scale. The simplest of such devices, tiny flexing beams, will respond to vanishingly small forces at frequencies up to the microwave range. One possibility is that nanomechanical resonators at cryogenic temperatures may allow the detection of quantum mechanical effects in a macroscopic mechanical object. A critical challenge to reach this limit is the measurement of the displacement. By integrating electronics, particularly mesoscopic electronics, on the device this limit may be reachable. I will talk about the design of these devices, the results, and the limits that quantum mechanics imposes on them.

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