Complex nonlinear dynamics in the limit of weak coupling of a system of microcantilevers connected by a geometrically nonlinear tunable nanomembrane

Intentional utilization of geometric nonlinearity in micro/nanomechanical resonators provides a breakthrough to overcome the narrow bandwidth limitation of linear dynamic systems. In past works, implementation of intentional geometric nonlinearity to an otherwise linear nano/micromechanical resonator has been successfully achieved by local modification of the system through nonlinear attachments of nanoscale size, such as nanotubes and nanowires. However, the conventional fabrication method involving manual integration of nanoscale components produced a low yield rate in these systems. In the present work, we employed a transfer-printing assembly technique to reliably integrate a silicon nanomembrane as a nonlinear coupling component onto a linear dynamic system with two discrete microcantilevers. The dynamics of the developed system was modeled analytically and investigated experimentally as the coupling strength was finely tuned via FIB post-processing. The transition from the ...

Bongwon Jeong, Hanna Cho, Hohyun Keum, Seok Kim, D Michael McFarland, Lawrence A Bergman, William P King and Alexander F Vakakis

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