Nonlinear phenomena in nanomechanical resonators: mechanical behaviors and physical limitations

In order to overcome the loss of performances issue when scaling resonant sensors down to NEMS, it proves extremely useful to study the behavior of resonators up to large displacements and hence high nonlinearities. A comprehensive nonlinear multiphysics model based on the Euler-Bernoulli equation which includes both mechanical and electrostatic nonlinearities in the case of a capacitive doubly clamped beam is presented. This purely analytical model captures all the nonlinear phenomena present in NEMS resonators electrostatically actuated including bistability, multistability which can lead to several physical limitations such as noise mixing, frequency stability deterioration as well as dynamic pull-in. Moreover, close-form expressions of the critical amplitudes and pull-in domain initiation amplitude are provided which can potentially serve for NEMS designers as quick design rules