Nanomechanical resonators based on nanotubes and graphene

We study nanomechanical resonators based on single carbon nanotubes and graphene sheets. These resonators feature two interesting properties compared to other mechanical resonators. First, owing to their reduced dimensionality, mechanical nonlinearities are particularly important. We found an unprecedented scenario where damping is described by a nonlinear force and where the quality factor varies with the amplitude of the motion. Second, because of their small size, nanotube and graphene resonators are ultrasensitive to variations in their environment. We achieved mass sensing experiments with a resolution of 1.7 yg, which corresponds to the mass of one proton.