Collaborative Research: Exploration of the Nonlinear Dynamics of NEMS Carbon Nanotube Resonators

该奖项由2009年美国复苏和再投资法案(公法111-5)资助。拟议工作的目的是提供对静电驱动双夹持碳纳米管的非线性动力学的基本了解，包括松弛效应，并深入探讨在非线性区域操作这些设备的后果、优点和缺点。发展碳纳米管的一个主要障碍是缺乏对其动力学行为的了解。由于这些器件由于松弛、中板拉伸和静电力而具有丰富的非线性，对于如何实现可靠的碳纳米管器件存在模糊性和未解答的方程。为了解决这些问题，我们计划从理论和实验两个方面研究碳纳米管在小负载和大负载激励下的动力学特性，这些负载包括直流静电负载和交流谐波负载。对碳纳米管研究人员至关重要的局部动力学问题进行了研究，如预测碳纳米管的非线性共振频率、软化和硬化行为、滞后以及一次和二次激发。将进行影响碳纳米管谐振器稳定性的全球动力学问题，如动态拉入、带有松弛的管子的咬合以及吸力盆分析。将使用分析和数值方法，包括摄动技术、降阶模型和射击技术。在实验上，提出了不同的光学和电学方法来检测共振频率、监测管子偏转和捕捉拉入的开始，以使理论工作得以比较和验证。所提议的研究结果将允许在有用的应用中更积极地利用碳纳米管，尽管它们具有非线性行为，因为它将提供如何处理它的适当知识。另一方面，可以开辟新的研究途径，有意识地利用碳纳米管的非线性动力学来获得独特的特征和优势。将揭示在非线性区域操作NEMS碳纳米管的令人兴奋的可能性，这将导致新的传感器和执行器的发现。此外，这项研究将弥合实验测量和理论建模之间的差距，从而导致正确的器件校准和对碳纳米管物理性质的准确估计。这项研究将为两所学院(纽约州立大学和康奈尔大学)的研究生提供优秀的培训经验，并将通过NSF资助的宾厄姆顿成功项目培养本科生。此外，将与美国国家科学基金会资助的康奈尔纳米加工设施和卡夫利研究所建立伙伴关系，创建纳米维基，收集和浓缩纳米器件制造和测量方面的信息，为国家和国际科学界提供广泛的在线开放获取资源。资金还将允许与康奈尔物理教师研究所合作开发纳米力学的新模块，以便向纽约州的高中教师传播。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009(Public Law 111-5).The objective of the proposed work is to provide fundamental understanding of the nonlinear dynamics of electrostatically actuated doubly-clamped carbon nanotubes,including the effect of slack, and explore in depth the consequences, advantages, and disadvantages of operating these devices in the nonlinear regime. A major obstacle in the development of carbon nanotubes CNTs has been the lack of knowledge of their dynamical behavior. Because of the rich nonlinearities in these devices due to slack, mid-pane stretching, and electrostatic forces, there is ambiguity and unanswered equations of how to realize reliable devices of CNTs. To address these issues, theoretical and experimental works are planned to study the dynamics of CNTs when excited by small and large electric loads composed of a DC electrostatic load uperimposed to an AC harmonic load. Local dynamics issues that are vital for CNTs researchers, such as predicting the nonlinear resonance frequencies of CNTs, softening and hardening behaviors, hysteresis, and primary and secondary excitations will be investigated. Global dynamics issues affecting the stability of CNTs resonators, such as dynamic pull-in, snap through of tubes with slacks, and basin-of-attraction analysis will be conducted. Analytical and numerical methods including perturbation techniques, reduced-order models, and shooting techniques will be utilized. Experimentally, various optical and electrical methods to detect the resonance frequencies, monitor the tubesdeflections, and capture the onset of pull-in are proposed to enable comparison and validation of the theoretical work.The outcome of the proposed research will allow more aggressive utilization of CNTs in useful applications despite their nonlinear behavior since it will present the proper knowledge of how to deal with it. On the other hand, new research avenues can be opened to deliberately utilize the nonlinear dynamics of CNTs to gain unique features and advantages. Exciting possibilities for operating NEMS CNTs in the nonlinear regimes will be revealed, which can lead to discovery of novel sensors and actuators. Further, this research should bridge the gap between experimental measurements and theoretical modeling, which leads to correct calibration of devices and accurate estimation for the physical properties of CNTs. This research will provide excellent training experience for the graduate students from both institutes (SUNY and Cornell).Also, it will train undergraduate minority students through the NSF-funded Binghamton Success Program. Further, a partnership will be established with the NSF-funded Cornell Nanofabrication Facility and the Kavli Institute to create a Nano Wiki that will collect and condense information on nanoscale device fabrication and measurement for broad on-line open access resource to the national and international scientific community. Funds will also allow partnership with the Cornell Institute for Physics Teachers to develop new modules on nanomechanics for dissemination to New York State high school teachers.