Temperature dependence of a nanomechanical switch

We present the effect of temperature on the switching characteristics of a bistable nonlinear nanomechanical beam. At megahertz-range frequencies, we find that it is possible to controllably change the state of the system between two stable mechanical states defined by the hysteresis brought on by nonlinear excitation. We find that the introduction of increased temperature results in a loss of switching fidelity, and that temperature acts as an effective source of external noise on the dynamics of the system. (C) 2005 American Institute of Physics.