Five Low-Noise Stable Oscillators Referenced to the Same Multimode AlN/Si MEMS Resonator.

We report on the first experimental demonstration of five self-sustaining feedback oscillators referenced to a single multimode resonator, using piezoelectric aluminum nitride on silicon (AlN/Si) microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology. Integrated piezoelectric transduction enables efficient readout of five resonance modes of the same AlN/Si MEMS resonator, at 10, 30, 65, 95, and 233 MHz with quality ( Q ) factors of 18 600, 4350, 4230, 2630, and 2138, respectively, at room temperature. Five stable self-sustaining oscillators are built, each referenced to one of these high- Q modes, and their mode-dependent phase noise and frequency stability (Allan deviation) are measured and analyzed. The 10, 30, 65, 95, and 233 MHz oscillators exhibit low phase noise of -116, -100, -105, -106, and -92 dBc/Hz at 1 kHz offset frequency, respectively. The 65 MHz oscillator yields the Allan deviation of 4×10-9 and 2×10-7 at 1 and 1000 s averaging time, respectively. The 10 MHz oscillator's low phase noise holds strong promise for clock and timing applications. The five oscillators' overall promising performance suggests suitability for multimode resonant sensing and real-time frequency tracking. This work also elucidates mode dependency in oscillator noise and stability, one of the key attributes of mode-engineerable resonators.

Raman Spectroscopic Probe for Nonlinear MoS2 Nanoelectromechanical Resonators.

Resonant nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) enabled by two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors have been actively explored and engineered for making ultrascaled transducers toward applications in ultralow-power signal processing, communication, and sensing. Although the transduction of miniscule resonant motions has been achieved by low-noise optical or electronic techniques, direct probing of strain in vibrating 2D semiconductor membranes and the interplay between the spectroscopic and mechanical properties are still largely unexplored. Here, we experimentally demonstrate dynamical phonon softening in atomically thin molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) NEMS resonators by directly coupling Raman spectroscopy with optical interferometry resonance motion detection. In single-layer, bilayer, and trilayer (1L to 3L) MoS2 circular membrane NEMS resonators, we show that high-amplitude nonlinear resonances can enhance the Raman signal amplitude, as well as introduce Raman modes softening up to 0.8 cm-1. These results shall pave the way for engineering the coupling and control between collective mechanical vibrations and Raman modes of the constituent crystals in 2D transducers.