Dissipation in Single-Crystal 3C-SiC Ultra-High Frequency Nanomechanical Resonators

The energy dissipation Q^(-1) (where Q is the quality factor) and resonance frequency characteristics of single-crystal 3C-SiC ultrahigh frequency (UHF) nanomechanical resonators are measured, for a family of UHF resonators with resonance frequencies of 295MHz, 395MHz, 411MHz, 420MHz, 428MHz, and 482MHz. A temperature dependence of dissipation, Q^(-1) ~ T^(0.3) has been identified in these 3C-SiC devices. Possible mechanisms that contribute to dissipation in typical doubly-clamped beam UHF resonators are analyzed. Device size and dimensional effects on the dissipation are also examined. Clamping losses are found to be particularly important in these UHF resonators. The resonance frequency decreases as the temperature is increased, and the average frequency temperature coefficient is about -45ppm/K.