Displacement detection of silicon nanowires by polarization-enhanced fiber-optic interferometry

Journal Article · Mon Nov 10 00:00:00 EST 2008 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3025305· OSTI ID:21175754

Nichol, John M; Budakian, Raffi ^[1]; Hemesath, Eric R; Lauhon, Lincoln J ^[2]

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1. Department of Physics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801 (United States)
2. Department of Materials Science, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208 (United States)

We describe the displacement detection of freestanding silicon [111] nanowires by fiber-optic interferometry. We observe approximately a 50-fold enhancement in the scattered intensity for nanowires 40-60 nm in diameter for incident light polarized parallel to the nanowire axis, as compared to perpendicular polarization. This enhancement enables us to achieve a displacement sensitivity of 0.5 pm/{radical}(Hz) for 15 {mu}W of light incident on the nanowire. The nanowires exhibit ultralow mechanical dissipation in the range of (2x10{sup -15})-(2x10{sup -14}) kg/s and could be used as mechanical sensors for ultrasensitive scanning probe force measurements.

• OSTI ID: 21175754
• Journal Information: Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 93, Issue 19; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.3025305; (c) 2008 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0003-6951
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
INTERFEROMETRY
OPTICAL FIBERS
POLARIZATION
QUANTUM WIRES
SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS
SENSITIVITY
SENSORS
SILICON
VISIBLE RADIATION