Nanodevice motion at microwave frequencies

Abstract

It has been almost forgotten that the first computers envisaged by Charles Babbage in the early 1800s were mechanical1,2 and not electronic, but the development of high-frequency nanoelectromechanical systems is now promising a range of new applications3, including sensitive mechanical charge detectors4 and mechanical devices for high-frequency signal processing5, biological imaging6 and quantum measurement7,8,9. Here we describe the construction of nanodevices that will operate with fundamental frequencies in the previously inaccessible microwave range (greater than 1 gigahertz). This achievement represents a significant advance in the quest for extremely high-frequency nanoelectromechanical systems.