Silicon nanowire and cantilever electromechanical switches with integrated piezoresistive transducers

Abstract

This digest paper reports experimental demonstration of a new type of nanoelectromechanical device, combining contact-mode nanomechanical switching with sensitive integrated strain gauges in suspended thin (sub-100nm) silicon nanowires (SiNWs). By measuring and modeling the interesting coupling effects between mechanical strain and electrical transport in highly piezoresistive (PZR) thin SiNWs at room temperature, we demonstrate that, in both doubly-clamped SiNWs and mechanically `cross' coupled cantilever-SiNW structures, contact-mode and tunneling switching with multiple repeatable cycles can be also simultaneously monitored and read out in the SiNW PZR transducers naturally embedded in the devices. Given the strong piezoresistive effects in thin SiNWs, this type of devices offer a new approach for monitoring contact-mode operations, and may prove valuable when the nanoscale contacts are not highly conductive, or degrading over time.