Fabrication of doped nano-electromechanical systems

We present a new generation of nano-electromechanical systems (NEMS), which are realized by doping the semiconductor base material. In contrast to the traditional approach these doped NEMS (D-NEMS) do not require a metallization layer. This makes them far lighter and hence increases resonance frequency and quality factor. Additionally, D-NEMS can be tuned from the conductive state into an insulating one. This will enable a host of new device designs, like mechanically tunable pin-junctions and nanomechanical single electron switches. We demonstrate D-NEMS fabrication and operation from the intrinsic, to the light, and to the heavy regime of doping. (c) 2007 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.