A few-layer graphene nanomechanical resonator driven by multifrequency digital signals

Nanomechanical resonators driven by multifrequency signals merge mesoscopic vibration physics with radio communication technologies. Their fundamental property is resonant filtering: they respond only to driving signals with frequency components within their mechanical bandwidth. Compared to single-tone drives, multifrequency drives produce richer dynamics, with all frequency components transduced simultaneously into vibrations of varying amplitudes and phases that superimpose and interfere. Here, we employ a few-layer graphene nanomechanical resonator as a filter for broadband, digitally modulated video signals. We transduce the modulated signals into modulated vibrations and subsequently demodulate these into a nanomechanical video. This approach shows vibrational features that are absent in single-tone or noise-driven responses. Nanomechanical resonators behave as resonant filters for driving forces. Here, the authors employ a few-layer graphene nanomechanical resonator as a filter for multifrequency forces modulated by a video signal. They demonstrate that the modulated vibrations encode an accurate copy of the video.