Complex dynamical networks constructed with fully controllable nonlinear nanomechanical oscillators

Control of the global parameters of complex networks has been explored experimentally in a variety of contexts. Yet, the more difficult prospect of realizing arbitrary network architectures, especially analog physical networks that provide dynamical control of individual nodes and edges, has remained elusive. Given the vast hierarchy of time scales involved, it also proves challenging to measure a complex network’s full internal dynamics. These span from the fastest nodal dynamics to very slow epochs over which emergent global phenomena, including network synchronization and the manifestation of exotic steady states, eventually emerge. Here, we demonstrate an experimental system that satisfies these requirements. It is based upon modular, fully controllable, nonlinear radio frequency nanomechanical oscillators, designed to form the nodes of complex dynamical networks with edges of arbitrary topology. The dynamics of these oscillators and their surrounding network are analog and continuous-valued and can be fully interrogated in real time. They comprise a piezoelectric nanomechanical membrane resonator, which serves as the frequency-determining element within an electrical feedback circuit. This embodiment permits network interconnections entirely within the electrical domain and provides unprecedented node and edge control over a vast region of parameter space. Continuous measurement of the instantaneous amplitudes and phases of every constituent oscillator node are enabled, yielding full and detailed network data without reliance upon statistical quantities. We demonstrate the operation of this platform through the real-time capture of the dynamics of a three-node ring network as it evolves from the uncoupled state to full synchronization

DEVELOPMENT OF NANO/MICROELECTROMECHANICAL SYSTEM (N/MEMS) SWITCHES

Ph.DDOCTOR OF PHILOSOPH

An Energy-Efficient Design Paradigm for a Memory Cell Based on Novel Nanoelectromechanical Switches

In this chapter, we explain NEMsCAM cell, a new content-addressable memory (CAM) cell, which is designed based on both CMOS technologies and nanoelectromechanical (NEM) switches. The memory part of NEMsCAM is designed with two complementary nonvolatile NEM switches and located on top of the CMOS-based comparison component. As a use case, we evaluate first-level instruction and data translation lookaside buffers (TLBs) with 16 nm CMOS technology at 2 GHz. The simulation results demonstrate that the NEMsCAM TLB reduces the energy consumption per search operation (by 27%), standby mode (by 53.9%), write operation (by 41.9%), and the area (by 40.5%) compared to a CMOS-only TLB with minimal performance overhead

Performance Analysis of Nanoelectromechanical Relay-Based Field-Programmable Gate Arrays

The energy consumption of field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA) is dominated by leakage currents and dynamic energy associated with programmable interconnect. An FPGA built entirely from nanoelectromechanical (NEM) relays can effectively eliminate leakage energy losses, reduce the interconnect dynamic energy, operate at temperatures &gt;225 °C and tolerate radiation doses in excess of 100 Mrad, while hybrid FPGAs comprising both complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) transistors and NEM relays (NEM-CMOS) have the potential to realize improvements in performance and energy efficiency. Large-scale integration of NEM relays, however, poses a significant engineering challenge due to the presence of moving parts. We discuss the design of FPGAs utilizing NEM relays based on a heterogeneous 3-D integration scheme, and carry out a scaling study to quantify key metrics related to performance and energy efficiency in both NEM-only and NEM-CMOS FPGAs. We show how the integration scheme has a profound effect on these metrics by changing the length of global wires. The scaling regime beyond which net performance and energy benefits is seen in NEM-CMOS over a baseline 90 nm CMOS technology is defined by an effective relay beam length of 0.5 μm , on-resistance of 200 kΩ , and a via pitch of 0.4 μm , all achievable with existing process technology. For ultra-low energy applications that are not performance critical, NEM-only FPGAs can provide close to 15× improvement in energy efficiency.QC 20180412</p

Complex dynamical networks constructed with fully controllable nonlinear nanomechanical oscillators

Control of the global parameters of complex networks has been explored experimentally in a variety of contexts. Yet, the more difficult prospect of realizing arbitrary network architectures, especially analog physical networks that provide dynamical control of individual nodes and edges, has remained elusive. Given the vast hierarchy of time scales involved, it also proves challenging to measure a complex network’s full internal dynamics. These span from the fastest nodal dynamics to very slow epochs over which emergent global phenomena, including network synchronization and the manifestation of exotic steady states, eventually emerge. Here, we demonstrate an experimental system that satisfies these requirements. It is based upon modular, fully controllable, nonlinear radio frequency nanomechanical oscillators, designed to form the nodes of complex dynamical networks with edges of arbitrary topology. The dynamics of these oscillators and their surrounding network are analog and continuous-valued and can be fully interrogated in real time. They comprise a piezoelectric nanomechanical membrane resonator, which serves as the frequency-determining element within an electrical feedback circuit. This embodiment permits network interconnections entirely within the electrical domain and provides unprecedented node and edge control over a vast region of parameter space. Continuous measurement of the instantaneous amplitudes and phases of every constituent oscillator node are enabled, yielding full and detailed network data without reliance upon statistical quantities. We demonstrate the operation of this platform through the real-time capture of the dynamics of a three-node ring network as it evolves from the uncoupled state to full synchronization