Abstract

Nonlinear nanomechanical resonators give convenient solid-state access to classical analogs of extreme nonlinear optics and to phononic signal processing. Here we report integer high-harmonic generation and phononic frequency combs in a suspended monolayer graphene drum. A gate voltage breaks the out-of-plane symmetry of the membrane and tunes its fundamental flexural mode onto a 1:2 internal resonance with a higher mode at twice the frequency, where the quadratic coupling between the two modes becomes large. A single drive tone then generates phase-locked integer harmonics in sequence, and at larger drive these fill in to a dense frequency comb. Raising the drive further, we find a reverse period-doubling transition: the comb spacing doubles, the line density halves, and energy flows back into the even-order comb lines. The measured spectra yield the quadratic (ζ) and cubic (β) nonlinear coefficients of the membrane. These results show how the tunable nonlinear landscape of graphene supports distinct dynamical regimes on demand, allowing a single gated device to act in turn as a frequency multiplier, a broadband comb source, and a chaotic generator.

Abstract

Nonlinear nanomechanical resonators give convenient solid-state access to classical analogs of extreme nonlinear optics and to phononic signal processing. Here we report integer high-harmonic generation and phononic frequency combs in a suspended monolayer graphene drum. A gate voltage breaks the out-of-plane symmetry of the membrane and tunes its fundamental flexural mode onto a 1:2 internal resonance with a higher mode at twice the frequency, where the quadratic coupling between the two modes becomes large. A single drive tone then generates phase-locked integer harmonics in sequence, and at larger drive these fill in to a dense frequency comb. Raising the drive further, we find a reverse period-doubling transition: the comb spacing doubles, the line density halves, and energy flows back into the even-order comb lines. The measured spectra yield the quadratic (ζ) and cubic (β) nonlinear coefficients of the membrane. These results show how the tunable nonlinear landscape of graphene supports distinct dynamical regimes on demand, allowing a single gated device to act in turn as a frequency multiplier, a broadband comb source, and a chaotic generator.

Abstract

Nonlinear nanomechanical resonators give convenient solid-state access to classical analogs of extreme nonlinear optics and to phononic signal processing. Here we report integer high-harmonic generation and phononic frequency combs in a suspended monolayer graphene drum. A gate voltage breaks the out-of-plane symmetry of the membrane and tunes its fundamental flexural mode onto a 1:2 internal resonance with a higher mode at twice the frequency, where the quadratic coupling between the two modes becomes large. A single drive tone then generates phase-locked integer harmonics in sequence, and at larger drive these fill in to a dense frequency comb. Raising the drive further, we find a reverse period-doubling transition: the comb spacing doubles, the line density halves, and energy flows back into the even-order comb lines. The measured spectra yield the quadratic (ζ) and cubic (β) nonlinear coefficients of the membrane. These results show how the tunable nonlinear landscape of graphene supports distinct dynamical regimes on demand, allowing a single gated device to act in turn as a frequency multiplier, a broadband comb source, and a chaotic generator.

Abstract

Nonlinear nanomechanical resonators give convenient solid-state access to classical analogs of extreme nonlinear optics and to phononic signal processing. Here we report integer high-harmonic generation and phononic frequency combs in a suspended monolayer graphene drum. A gate voltage breaks the out-of-plane symmetry of the membrane and tunes its fundamental flexural mode onto a 1:2 internal resonance with a higher mode at twice the frequency, where the quadratic coupling between the two modes becomes large. A single drive tone then generates phase-locked integer harmonics in sequence, and at larger drive these fill in to a dense frequency comb. Raising the drive further, we find a reverse period-doubling transition: the comb spacing doubles, the line density halves, and energy flows back into the even-order comb lines. The measured spectra yield the quadratic (ζ) and cubic (β) nonlinear coefficients of the membrane. These results show how the tunable nonlinear landscape of graphene supports distinct dynamical regimes on demand, allowing a single gated device to act in turn as a frequency multiplier, a broadband comb source, and a chaotic generator.