Time-domain control of ultrahigh-frequency nanomechanical systems

Nanoelectromechanical systems could have applications in fields as diverse as ultrasensitive mass detection 1 , 2 , 3 and mechanical computation 4 , 5 , 6 , and can also be used to explore fundamental phenomena such as quantized heat conductance 7 and quantum-limited displacement 8 , 9 . Most nanomechanical studies to date have been performed in the frequency domain. However, applications in computation 10 and information storage 11 will require transient excitation and high-speed time-domain operation of nanomechanical systems. Here we show a time-resolved optical approach to the transduction of ultrahigh-frequency nanoelectromechanical systems, and demonstrate that coherent control of nanomechanical oscillation is possible through appropriate pulse programming. A series of cantilevers with resonant frequencies ranging from less than 10 MHz to over 1 GHz are characterized using the same pulse parameters. Most experiments on nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) have so far been performed in the frequency domain, whereas applications in computation and information storage will require such systems to be operated in the time domain. A time-resolved optical approach to the transduction of ultrahigh-frequency NEMS that works at frequencies from less than 10 MHz to over 1 GHz has now been demonstrated.