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Updated: Aug 21, 2026

Fabrication and Testing of Microfluidic Optomechanical Oscillators
Published on: May 29, 2014
Resonant oscillators with carbon-nanotube torsion springs
S J Papadakis1, A R Hall, P A Williams
1Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, USA.
Abstract:
We report on the characterization of nanometer-scale resonators. Each device incorporates one multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWNT) as a torsional spring. The devices are actuated electrostatically, and their deflections, both low frequency and on resonance, are detected optically. These are some of the smallest electromechanical devices ever created and are a demonstration of practical integrated MWNT-based oscillators. The results also show surprising intershell mechanical coupling behavior in the MWNTs.
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