Modeling and experimental study of nanoelectromechanical oscillator using single zinc oxide nanowire

This paper reports a novel nanoelectromechanical oscillator using a single zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowire suspended across two micromachined Au electrodes. The oscillator is self-driven into a motion that is self-detected by using a field effect transistor (FET) configuration and a lock-in detection method. A continuum electromechanical model is established to realize a theoretical analysis on the oscillator and the primary experimental measurements are performed to validate the effectiveness of the device. Compared with other nanoelectromechanical oscillators, such as that with carbon nanotubes, the oscillator based on ZnO nanowire is provided with an enhanced electromechanical response and an observable resonance with a frequency on the order of tens of megahertz driven in an air environment. These merits significantly enhance the device's practicability. The device can be potentially applied for actuators and sensors.