A nanoradio utilizing the mechanical resonance of a vertically aligned nanopillar array

A nanoradio based on the mechanical resonance of a nanomaterial has promising applications in terms of size reduction of an antenna and integrity of all components of a radio except a speaker. In this letter, a nanopillar array radio utilizing the mechanical resonance of a vertically aligned nanopillar array is realized by a reliable top-down method. By exploiting the field emission phenomenon, it was found that the nanopillar array functions as a radio with a demodulator without any electrical circuitry. The array of vertically aligned nanopillars increases the demodulated current and signal to noise ratio, and this fabrication method makes manipulation and positioning of nanostructures possible intrinsically for industrial applications. © 2014 The Royal Society of Chemistry.