Investigating the System-Level Dynamics of Fully-Integrated CMOS-SOI Nanoresonators

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Following the scaling of CMOS transistors, electromechanical systems are undergoing a rapid and remarkable miniaturization into the sub-micron regime. Resonant nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) are eliciting particular interest because they allow access to microwave frequencies and nanosecond response times, amongst other pertinent metrics. These unprecedented properties are fueling the potentially ground-breaking application of NEMS in signal processing, electrometry, and chemical and biological sensing. Despite their significant potential in these applications, the widespread implementation of resonant NEMS is currently impeded by: (i) a limited, system-level understanding of their complex dynamic behaviors, (ii) device-to-device performance irregularity, and (iii) a general incompatibility with existing CMOS fabrication technologies. This effort seeks to address these deficiencies through the modeling, design, fabrication, and characterization of highly-tunable, top-down fabricated, resonant nanosystems, which can be integrated with existing CMOS technologies. Specifically, the work seeks to develop fully-integrated, electrostatically-actuated devices, which can be repeatedly reproduced using commercial semiconductor process flows. To this end, single- and dual-gate nanoresonators will be designed and fabricated using a silicon-on-insulator process and subsequently integrated with CMOS circuits capable of providing on-chip actuation, signal conditioning, response characterization, and device tuning. Two nanoscale hardware platforms, a channel-select RF receiver and a gas-phase chemical sensor, which advantageously leverage the systems' inherently nonlinear behaviors, will then be developed to evaluate the merits of the proposed system-level modeling, analysis, design, and development approach. Overall, this effort should not only provide insight into the complex dynamical behaviors associated with a fully-integrated nanoresonator system, including attendant electronics, operating in a noisy, multi-physics environment, but also push forward the status of current nanofabrication technology. In addition, the effort should have broader impact through hierarchical integration with new educational efforts founded upon the existing cyber-infrastructure of the NSF Network for Computational Nanotechnology's nanoHUB and Purdue's Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program. Specifically, the effort's PIs will (i) develop and deploy a comprehensive software tool for the simulation of integrated SOI-CMOS resonant nanosystems; and (ii) develop and distribute new course materials and streaming video lectures associated with integrated nanosystems, which will be included in the PI's course on the Mechanics of Micro- and Nanosystems. The PIs anticipate that hundreds of students and scientists worldwide will utilize these resources to further their system-level understanding of nanoresonators. It is important to note that the educational effort will also incorporate three undergraduate research experiences arranged through the SURF program. These summer-long, intensive experiences will specifically target under-represented students.