Monitoring micromechanical buckling at high-speed for sensing and transducer applications

Abstract

Controlling the amount and direction of buckling at micro- and nano-scale efficiently opens up avenues for novel actuation and sensor applications. Earlier platforms that can achieve a full and non-thermal control of microscopic buckling operated only with a time resolution of 40 ms. Here, we have measured the buckling amount of a beam starting from unbuckled position and reaching to large post-buckling deformations by collecting secondary electrons under scanning electron microscope. Line mode is used for ultrafast measurements with 33kHz scan frequency, and a displacement noise floor of 40pm/√Hz was obtained. Moreover, by further reduction in the device dimensions, the buckling threshold voltage was reduced by a factor of three compared to similar platforms.