Highly efficient diamond electromechanical transducer based on released metal-oxide-semiconductor structure

Abstract

We propose and demonstrate an efficient, integrated, and customizable metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) actuator capable of active on-chip driving and tuning microelectromechanical resonators. A single-crystal diamond mechanical resonator with a hydrogen-terminated surface was utilized for demonstration. In this actuator, the electrical field applied to the gate tunes the width of the depletion region of the MOS capacitor on the cantilever and induces an actuation force. The proposed actuator overcomes the drawbacks of conventional actuators, such as the growth of piezoelectric materials, formation of p-n junctions, high dc voltages, and nanoscale air gaps. The actuator has various merits, such as low-power dissipation (∼pW), low-voltage operation (∼mV), and a tailored amplitude through a low dc bias of less than 1 V. The proposed actuator is universally applicable in all semiconductors compatible with complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor.