Vertical carbon nanofiber arrays and nanomechanical resonators with potential for resonant sensing

This digest paper presents experimental demonstration of new resonant nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) based on sub-100nm thin carbon nanofibers (CNFs) that are synthesized by using a plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) process. Beyond careful and extensive materials characterization of the CNFs, we have prototyped few-μm-long, cantilever-like CNF mechanical resonators with measured flexural resonances in the range of ~3-15 MHz and with quality (Q) factors of ~200-800. We further investigate the effects of electron beam irradiation upon the CNFs, and we have observed resonance frequency shift due to electron beam induced amorphous carbon deposition on the CNFs. The results suggest that these very small CNFs have interesting potential for enabling NEMS that can be employed for resonant sensing and detection of radiation, adsorption, and other physical and/or biochemical processes.