Effect of helium ion implantation on nanomechanical resonators in 3C-SiC

Silicon carbide (SiC) is a suitable candidate for nanoelectromechanical systems due to its superior mechanical properties. It is also an interesting material platform to study the coupling of mechanical modes with localized spins associated with irradiation-induced defects. Such a spin-mechanical system can be used for quantum sensing applications [1].
The nanomechanical resonators in 3C-SiC are fabricated by standard semiconductor processing techniques such as electron beam lithography and reactive ion etching. They are characterized using Fabry-Pérot interferometer. In the preliminary experiments, we focus on the material modification by helium ion broad beam implantation on strained 3C-SiC resonators. The effect of varying fluence on resonance frequencies and quality factors is studied. With the fluence of 1 X 10^14 /cm^2 we observe decrease in resonant frequencies (~ 15%) and quality factors.

[1] A. V. Poshakinskiy and G. V. Astakhov, "Optically detected spin-mechanical resonance in silicon carbide membranes”, PhysRevB.100.094104 (2019)