Nanomechanical Resonator: Tension-Induced Frequency Shift

Nanomechanical and microelectromechanical (NEMS/MEMS) resonators — doubly-clamped nanobeams and nanoribbons used as ultra-sensitive mass and force sensors, RF filters and frequency references — don't vibrate purely as bending beams once they're under built-in axial tension. This simulator computes the fundamental resonant frequency of a doubly-clamped nanobeam as the quadrature sum of a pure-bending term and a pure-tension (string) term, and lets you sweep axial strain, beam length, thickness and material to watch the resonance shift and the vibration regime transition from bending-dominated to tension-dominated in real time — the exact mechanism engineers exploit to tune NEMS resonator frequencies after fabrication.