Fabrication of nanoplate resonating structures via micro-masonry

Advantages of using nanoscale membrane and plate resonators over more common cantilever shapes include higher quality factor (Q factor) for an equivalent mass and better suitability to mass sensing applications in fluid. Unfortunately, the current fabrication methods used to obtain such membranes and plates are limited in terms of materials and thickness range, and can potentially cause stiction. This study presents a new method to fabricate nanoplate resonating structures based on micro-masonry, which is the advanced form of the transfer printing technique. Nanoplate resonators were fabricated by transfer printing 0.34 µm thick square-shaped silicon plates by means of polydimethylsiloxane microtip stamps on top of silicon oxide base structures displaying 20 µm diameter cavities, followed by a thermal annealing step to create a rigid bond. Typical resulting suspended structures display vibration characteristics, i.e. a resonance frequency of a few MHz and Q factors above 10 in air at atmospheric pressure, which are in accordance with theory. Moreover, the presented fabrication method enables the realization of multiple suspended structures in a single step and on the same single base, without mechanical crosstalk between the resonators. This work thus demonstrates the suitability and the advantages of the micro-masonry technique for the fabrication of plate resonators for mass sensing purpose. (paper)