Stress and silicon nitride: A crack in the universal dissipation of glasses

D. R. Southworth, R. A. Barton, S. S. Verbridge, B. Ilic, A. D. Fefferman, H. G. Craighead, J. M. Parpia

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

76 Scopus citations

Abstract

High-stress silicon nitride microresonators exhibit a remarkable room temperature Q factor that even exceeds that of single crystal silicon. A study of the temperature dependent variation of the Q of a 255μm×255μ m×30nm thick high-stress Si3N4 membrane reveals that the dissipation Q-1 decreases with lower temperatures and is □ 3 orders of magnitude smaller than the universal behavior. Stress-relieved cantilevers fabricated from the same material show a Q that is more consistent with typical disordered materials. e-beam and x-ray studies of the nitride film's structure reveal characteristics consistent with a disordered state. Thus, it is shown that stress alters the Q-1, violating the universality of dissipation in disordered materials in a self-supporting structure.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number225503
JournalPhysical Review Letters
Volume102
Issue number22
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 5 2009

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Physics and Astronomy(all)

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