1. Piezoelectrically actuated diamond cantilevers for high-frequency applications
- Author
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Heidrich, N., Zürbig, V., Iankov, D., Pletschen, W., Sah, R.E., Raynor, B., Kirste, L., Nebel, C.E., Ambacher, O., Lebedev, V., and Publica
- Subjects
aluminum nitride (AlN) ,field emission ,mechanical property characterization ,nanocrystalline diamond ,p-type doping ,micro electromechanical systems (MEMS) - Abstract
In this work, we present a proof-of-concept for the modulation of field emission currents from boron doped nano-diamond based micro-electro-mechanical cantilevers. This modulation was achieved by variations in anode-cathode spacing using mechanical oscillations of the field emitting tips by means of piezoelectric actuation of an aluminum nitride layer. In these devices, the nano-diamond layers serve as a multifunctional material as they are used as field emitters, elastic layers in a unimorph layer stack and as electrodes for piezoactuation. The cantilevers are processed using conventional micro-fabrication technology and are enhanced by focused ion beam milling, introducing nano-scale features. In addition, it is shown that a stress compensating geometry is efficient to counteract the large thermally induced strain in the nano-materials used.
- Published
- 2013