A Mechanical Mass Sensor with Yoctogram Resolution

Abstract

Nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) have generated considerable interest as inertial mass sensors. NEMS resonators have been used to weigh cells, biomolecules, and gas molecules, creating many new possibilities for biological and chemical analysis [1-4]. Recently, NEMS-based mass sensors have been employed as a new tool in surface science in order to study e.g. the phase transitions or the diffusion of adsorbed atoms on nanoscale objects [5-7]. A key point in all these experiments is the ability to resolve small masses. Here we report on mass sensing experiments with a resolution of 1.7 yg (1 yg = 10^-24 g), which corresponds to the mass of one proton, or one hydrogen atom. The resonator is made of a ~150 nm long carbon nanotube resonator vibrating at nearly 2 GHz. The unprecedented level of sensitivity allows us to detect adsorption events of naphthalene molecules (C10H8) and to measure the binding energy of a Xe atom on the nanotube surface (131 meV). These ultrasensitive nanotube resonators offer new opportunities for mass spectrometry, magnetometry, and adsorption experiments.

submitted version of the manuscript

References in corpus (5)

• A tunable carbon nanotube electromechanical oscillator
• Strong coupling between single-electron tunneling and nano-mechanical motion
• Carbon nanotubes as ultra-high quality factor mechanical resonators
• Digital and FM demodulation of a doubly-clamped single wall carbon nanotube oscillator: towards a nanotube cell phone
• High-frequency nanotube mechanical resonators

Cited by in corpus (11)

• Nanotube mechanical resonators with quality factors of up to 5 million
• Electromechanically induced absorption in a circuit nano-electromechanical system
• Strong and tunable mode coupling in carbon nanotube resonators
• Coupling carbon nanotube mechanics to a superconducting circuit
• Frequency and Q-factor control of nanomechanical resonators
• Few-hundred GHz Carbon Nanotube NEMS
• Frequency modulated self-oscillation and phase inertia in a synchronized nanowire mechanical resonator
• High-Q Gold and Silicon Nitride Bilayer Nanostrings
• Feedback cooling of cantilever motion using a quantum point contact transducer
• Surface electron perturbations and the collective behavior of atoms adsorbed on a cylinder
• Mass-loading induced dephasing in nanomechanical resonators