Nano-electro-opto-mechanical systems enable the synergistic coexistence of electrical, mechanical, and optical signals on a chip to realize new functions. Most of the technology platforms proposed for the fabrication of these systems so far are not fully compatible with the mainstream CMOS technology, thus hindering mass-scale utilization. In this work, D. Navarro-Urrios (from Micro and Nanotechnology and nanoscopies for Electronic and Electrophotonic Devices (MIND)) and coworkers of ICN2 (Spain), Polytechnic University of Valencia (Spain), NEST-CNR Institute (Italy) and VTT (Finland) have developed a CMOS technology platform for nano-electro-opto-mechanical systems that includes piezoelectric interdigitated transducers for electronic driving of mechanical signals and nanocrystalline silicon nanobeams for enhanced optomechanical interaction. Room temperature operation of devices at 2 GHz and with peak sensitivity down to 2.6 cavity phonons is demonstrated. This proof-of-principle technology platform can be integrated and interfaced with silicon photonics, electronics, and MEMS devices and may enable multiple functions for coherent signal processing in the classical and quantum domains.
Room-Temperature Silicon Platform for GHz-Frequency Nanoelectro-Opto-Mechanical Systems. ACS Photonics, Articles ASAP (Letter) (2022).