An optical Bragg scattering readout for simultaneous detection of all low-order mechanical modes of gallium nitride nanowires in nanowire arrays

Published

September 19, 2018

Author(s)

Kristine A. Bertness, John P. Houlton, Matthew D. Brubaker, Charles T. Rogers

Abstract

We report the use of optical Bragg scattering and homodyne interferometry to simultaneously measure all the first order cantilever-mode mechanical resonance frequencies and quality factors (Q) of gallium nitride nanowires (GaN NWs) in 100 NW periodic selected-area growth arrays. Hexagonal 2D arrays of 100 GaN NWs with pitch spacings of 350-1100 nm were designed and prepared to allow optical Bragg scattering. The NWs studied have diameters ranging from 100-300 nm, lengths from 3-10 μm, resonance frequencies between 1-10 MHz, and Q-values near 10,000 at 300 K. The system can passively detect the thermally induced Brownian mechanical motion of the NWs and can study driven NW motion, enabling the simultaneous monitoring of hundreds of mechanical resonators in a 10-100 μm2 area with a single optical beam. The read-out system allows large arrays of NWs to be characterized and applied as e.g. spatially resolved temperature and mass sensors.

Citation

Applied Physics Letters

Volume

113

Issue

12

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5043211

Local Download

Keywords

gallium nitride nanowires, nano-mechanical systems, III-V semiconductors

Citation

Bertness, K. , Houlton, J. , Brubaker, M. and Rogers, C. (2018), An optical Bragg scattering readout for simultaneous detection of all low-order mechanical modes of gallium nitride nanowires in nanowire arrays, Applied Physics Letters, [online], https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5043211 (Accessed October 9, 2025)