Empowering Semiconductors: The Dual Path of Nanomechanical Innovation and Integration

Abstract: Semiconductor nanomechanics has played a crucial role in advancing transistor technology by enhancing carrier mobility through lattice strain. The deep interplay between electronic and mechanical properties in semiconductors—spanning band structure, conductivity, strain, and elasticity—opens new avenues for engineering innovation beyond solid-state electronics. This enables transformative applications such as stable mechanical clocks, tunable infrared detectors, nonreciprocal acoustic waveguides, and microwave frequency combs.

Despite significant progress in semiconductor nanomechanical devices, a major challenge remains: integrating them seamlessly into standard semiconductor platforms to operate alongside mature electronic circuits. The primary bottleneck is the absence of efficient nanoscale transducers in standard nodes, which are critical to harnessing the full potential of on-chip mechanical systems.

In this talk, I will introduce novel nanomechanical devices in silicon (Si) and silicon-germanium (SiGe) platforms that exploit electronic effects to achieve clock stabilities comparable to atomic standards¹. I will also present frequency-selective SiGe-Si heat engines² and refrigerators that enable self-amplification and noise cooling. Additionally, I will discuss recent breakthroughs in CMOS-based piezoelectric transducers using phase-engineered hafnia, paving the way for nanomechanical devices integration on advanced semiconductor chips^3,4. Finally, I will demonstrate how these efforts culminate in the first massively scaled array of hafnia-on-semiconductor microwave filters and oscillators, advancing the frontiers of on-chip frequency control^5,6.

¹S. Dabas, et al., and R. Tabrizian, “Ultra-High Q Self-Ovenized AlScN-on-Si X-Lamé Resonator for Stable Clock Generation,” IEEE MEMS 2024, doi: 10.1109/MEMS58180.2024.10439464.

²F. Hakim, et al., and R. Tabrizian, “A Self-Amplified Silicon-Germanium Nanomechanical Resonator with Piezoresistive Heat Engines,” Solid-State Sensors, Actuators, and Microsystems Workshop (Hilton Head 2024).

³M. Ghatge, et al., and R. Tabrizian. “An ultrathin integrated nanoelectromechanical transducer based on hafnium zirconium oxide.” Nature Electronics 2019. DOI: 10.1038/s41928-019-0305-3.

⁴T. Tharpe, et al., and R. Tabrizian. “Nanoelectromechanical resonators for gigahertz frequency control based on hafnia–zirconia–alumina superlattices.” Nature Electronics 2023. DOI: 10.1038/s41928-023-00999-9.

⁵F. Hakim, et al., and R. Tabrizian. “A ferroelectric-gate fin microwave acoustic spectral processor.” Nature Electronics 2024. doi: 10.1038/s41928-023-01109-5.

⁶R. Tabrizian, “Three-dimensional acoustic resonators for massively scalable spectral processors.” Nature Electronics 2024, doi: 10.1038/s41928-023-01110-y.

Bio: Roozbeh Tabrizian is an Associate Professor and the NELMS Rising Star Endowed Professor at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Florida. He received his B.S. (2007) degree in Electrical Engineering from Sharif University of Technology, Iran, and the Ph.D. (2013) degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. His research interests encompass semiconductor micro- and nano-electro-mechanical systems (N/MEMS) for advanced frequency control and physical sensing, nonlinear and nonreciprocal N/MEMS, and novel ferroic materials and devices. Tabrizian has received the DARPA Director’s Fellowship Award (2021), a DARPA Young Faculty Award (2019), and an NSF CAREER Award (2018). He serves as an Associate Editor for the IEEE Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems (JMEMS) and Sensors and Actuators A: Physical. In 2024, he was inducted as a Rising Star in the Academy of Science, Engineering, and Medicine of Florida. He is also the recipient of the 2021 Pramod P. Khargonekar Award for the most outstanding College of Engineering faculty member undergoing tenure review. Tabrizian’s research has resulted in more than 100 journal and refereed conference papers and 14 patents. He and his students have received and have been finalists of multiple outstanding paper awards at top-tier conferences such as IEEE MEMS, IEEE IFCS, IEEE IEDM, IEEE NEMS, and Transducers.