Bottom-up silicon nanowire resonators for nanomechanical sensing: Controlled fabrication technology and high-sensitivity frequency modulation transduction

In this contribution, we demonstrate the usefulness of the frequency modulation (FM) transduction scheme for the electrical read-out of bottom-up nanomechanical resonators fabricated by a technology that allows to control and pattern the growth position and orientation of double-clamped silicon nanowires. The FM scheme enables the observation of the resonance mode-splitting effect of silicon nanowires resonators in the UHF range for the first time, as well as the detection of higher-order modes of the resonant structure, which is crucial for developing quantitative mass-sensor with spatial selectivity. We show that the mechanism responsible for the electrical transduction in the FM transduction scheme is different than the one used in previous electrical readout set-ups.