Frequency Stability of Graphene Nonlinear Parametric Oscillator

Abstract

High-frequency stability is crucial for the performance of graphene resonators in sensing and timekeeping applications. However, the extreme miniaturization and high mechanical compliance that make graphene attractive also render it highly susceptible to nonlinearities, degrading frequency stability. Here, we demonstrate that graphene parametric oscillators provide an alternative nonlinear operating regime, where short-term frequency stability can be enhanced despite strong nonlinearity. By operating graphene resonators in a phase-locked loop (PLL), we experimentally demonstrate that parametric oscillations in the post-bifurcation regime achieve lower Allan deviation at fast integration times than Duffing oscillations at identical amplitudes. This improvement originates from strong nonlinear damping inherent to parametric oscillators, which suppresses amplitude-to-frequency noise conversion at large amplitudes. A minimal theoretical model captures observed phase diffusion and identifies nonlinear damping as the dominant mechanism governing phase noise reduction. These results highlight the role of nonlinear dissipation in enabling precision sensing beyond conventional limits of graphene oscillators.