Evidence for quantized displacement in macroscopic nanomechanical oscillators.
We report the observation of discrete displacement of nanomechanical oscillators with gigahertz-range resonance frequencies at millikelvin temperatures. The oscillators are nanomachined single-crystal structures of silicon, designed to provide two distinct sets of coupled elements with very low and very high frequencies. With this novel design, femtometer-level displacement of the frequency-determining element is amplified into collective motion of the entire micron-sized structure. The observed discrete response possibly results from energy quantization at the onset of the quantum regime in these macroscopic nanomechanical oscillators.
Gaidarzhy
Alexei
A
Department of Physics, Boston University, 590 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA.
Zolfagharkhani
Guiti
G
Badzey
Robert L
RL
Mohanty
Pritiraj
P