Eur. Phys. J. B 69, 5-10 (2009)
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2009-00097-3

Noise color and asymmetry in stochastic resonance with silicon nanomechanical resonators

Department of Physics, Boston University, 590 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, 02215 Massachusetts, USA

Corresponding author: ^a mohanty@physics.bu.edu

Received: 20 November 2008
Revised: 10 February 2009
Published online: 18 March 2009

Abstract

Stochastic resonance with white noise has been well established as a potential signal amplification mechanism in nanomechanical two-state systems. While white noise represents the archetypal stimulus for stochastic resonance, typical operating environments for nanomechanical devices often contain different classes of noise, particularly colored noise with a 1/f spectrum. As a result, improved understanding of the effects of noise color will be helpful in maximizing device performance. Here we report measurements of stochastic resonance in a silicon nanomechanical resonator using 1/f noise and Ornstein-Uhlenbeck noise types. Power spectral densities and residence time distributions provide insight into asymmetry of the bistable amplitude states, and the data sets suggest that 1/f^α noise spectra with increasing noise color (i.e. α) may lead to increasing asymmetry in the system, reducing the achievable amplification. Furthermore, we explore the effects of correlation time τ on stochastic resonance with the use of exponentially correlated noise. We find monotonic suppression of the spectral amplification as the correlation time increases.