title: Frequency fluctuations in silicon nanoresonators.
abstract: Frequency stability is key to the performance of nanoresonators. This stability is thought to reach a limit with the resonator's ability to resolve thermally induced vibrations. Although measurements and predictions of resonator stability usually disregard fluctuations in the mechanical frequency response, these fluctuations have recently attracted considerable theoretical interest. However, their existence is very difficult to demonstrate experimentally. Here, through a literature review, we show that all studies of frequency stability report values several orders of magnitude larger than the limit imposed by thermomechanical noise. We studied a monocrystalline silicon nanoresonator at room temperature and found a similar discrepancy. We propose a new method to show that this was due to the presence of frequency fluctuations, of unexpected level. The fluctuations were not due to the instrumentation system, or to any other of the known sources investigated. These results challenge our current understanding of frequency fluctuations and call for a change in practices.
authors.affiliation: Univ. Grenoble Alpes, F-38000 Grenoble, France.|CEA, LETI, Minatec Campus, F-38054 Grenoble, France.
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sansa
authors.affiliation: Univ. Grenoble Alpes, F-38000 Grenoble, France.|CEA, LETI, Minatec Campus, F-38054 Grenoble, France.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sage
authors.affiliation: Kavli Nanoscience Institute and Departments of Physics, Applied Physics, and Bioengineering, California Institute of Technology, MC 149-33, Pasadena, California 91125, USA.
authors.forename: Elizabeth C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Bullard
authors.affiliation: Univ. Grenoble Alpes, F-38000 Grenoble, France.|CEA, LETI, Minatec Campus, F-38054 Grenoble, France.
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gély
authors.affiliation: Univ. Grenoble Alpes, F-38000 Grenoble, France.|CEA, LETI, Minatec Campus, F-38054 Grenoble, France.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Alava
authors.affiliation: Univ. Grenoble Alpes, F-38000 Grenoble, France.|CEA, LETI, Minatec Campus, F-38054 Grenoble, France.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Colinet
authors.affiliation: Centre for Nano Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012, India.
authors.forename: Akshay K
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6325-7231
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Naik
authors.affiliation: Advanced NEMS Group, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Luis Guillermo
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3340-2930
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Villanueva
authors.affiliation: Univ. Grenoble Alpes, F-38000 Grenoble, France.|CEA, LETI, Minatec Campus, F-38054 Grenoble, France.
authors.forename: Laurent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Duraffourg
authors.affiliation: Kavli Nanoscience Institute and Departments of Physics, Applied Physics, and Bioengineering, California Institute of Technology, MC 149-33, Pasadena, California 91125, USA.
authors.forename: Michael L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Roukes
authors.affiliation: Univ. Grenoble Alpes, F-38000 Grenoble, France.|CEA, LETI, Minatec Campus, F-38054 Grenoble, France.
authors.forename: Guillaume
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Jourdan
authors.affiliation: Univ. Grenoble Alpes, F-38000 Grenoble, France.|CEA, LETI, Minatec Campus, F-38054 Grenoble, France.
authors.forename: Sébastien
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hentz