Quantum well nanomechanical actuators with atomic vertical resolution

A novel continuously tunable vertical actuator with sub-nanometer resolution is presented. It consists of a heterostructure cantilever which has collapsed over a 125 nm thick nanogap. Its operating principle relies on the temperature dependence of the adhesion energy between two InGaAs surface quantum well surfaces. Deflections from -17 nm to 5 nm with a precision better than three atomic layers have been measured.