Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 8, 2026

Fabrication and Characterization of High-Q Silicon Nitride Membrane Resonators
Published on: August 8, 2025
Damping of nanomechanical resonators
Quirin P Unterreithmeier1, Thomas Faust, Jörg P Kotthaus
1Fakultät für Physik and Center for NanoScience (CeNS), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Geschwister-Scholl-Platz 1, D-80539 München, Germany. unterreithmeier@physik.uni-muenchen.de
Abstract:
We study the transverse oscillatory modes of nanomechanical silicon nitride strings under high tensile stress as a function of geometry and mode index m≤9. Reproducing all observed resonance frequencies with classical elastic theory we extract the relevant elastic constants. Based on the oscillatory local strain we successfully predict the observed mode-dependent damping with a single frequency-independent fit parameter. Our model clarifies the role of tensile stress on damping and hints at the underlying microscopic mechanisms.
Related Concept Videos
Types of Damping
Damped Oscillations
Although friction and other non-conservative...
Concept of Resonance and its Characteristics
Magnetic Damping
If, however, the bob is a slotted metal plate, the magnet produces a much smaller effect. When a slotted metal plate enters the field, an emf is induced by the change in flux; however, it is less effective because the slots limit the...
Design Example: Underdamped Parallel RLC Circuit
Starting with a fixed...
Forced Oscillations

