Inertial imaging of dual mass distributions on a graphene nanodrum: a computational study

Abstract This paper presents the possibility for inertial imaging of spatially patterned annular mass distributions of a circular graphene nanodrum resonator. By placing two distinct analytes in concentric annular regions, we harness the vibrational mode-specific sensitivities of the nanodrum to estimate their respective mass densities. An analytical formulation based on the Rayleigh-Ritz principle is developed to relate radial mass loading to modal frequency shifts. Finite element simulations are performed in COMSOL Multiphysics to obtain the shifts in the resonance frequency of vibrational modes under varying geometrical configurations of annular rings. By processing these frequency shifts through a transformation matrix, we estimate the concomitant mass distributions of annular rings. The results indicate that the estimation errors are lower for analytes placed near the antinodal regions of the dominant vibration mode, with the lowest error being 1.82% and 2.03% for the inner and outer annular regions, respectively. Furthermore, thinner annular rings demonstrate enhanced detection accuracy due to reduced modal overlap. This study demonstrates an analytical strategy for mass detection using a graphene nanodrum by providing insights into optimal analyte placement and structural design for high-precision multi-target mass sensing applications.