Driving self-sustained vibrations of nanowires with a constant electron beam

We present a method for driving self-sustained mechanical oscillations of nanocantilevers, in the form of SiC nanowires, using the constant electron beam of a scanning electron microscope. A model is developed incorporating the electrical and mechanical system elements and the physics of electron beam interactions with an insulator. Energy is pumped into the oscillations by the beam-induced time-varying charge on the nanowire coupled to the system capacitance. This self-sustained excitation method and its accompanying model provide a tool for nanoelectromechanical systems.