MIX some static over a DJ’s tunes and you will surely kill the party. Do the same to the vibrations of a nanoscale silicon beam, and it will transform the way it responds to feeble signals. The device, which exploits a phenomenon called stochastic resonance, could act as the basis of a sensitive probe for tiny forces, or as a mechanical alternative to conventional computer memory.
Stochastic resonance is the name given to the enhanced sensitivity of a device to a weak signal that occurs when random noise is added to the mix. The effect shows up throughout nature. Paddlefish…
