Tunable nanoelectromechanical resonator for logic computations

There has been remarkable interest in nanomechanical computing elements that can potentially lead to a new era in computation due to their re-configurability, high integration density, and high switching speed. Here we present a nanomechanical device capable of dynamically performing logic operations (NOR, NOT, XNOR, XOR, and AND). The concept is based on the active tuning of the resonance frequency of a doubly-clamped nanoelectromechanical beam resonator through electro-thermal actuation. The performance of this re-configurable logic device is examined at elevated temperatures, ranging from 25 °C to 85 °C, demonstrating its resilience for most of the logic operations. The proposed device can potentially achieve switching rate in μs, switching energy in nJ, and an integration density up to 10 per cm. The practical realization of this re-configurable device paves the way for nano-element-based mechanical computing.