A Proposal for Absolute Inertial Imaging Using Two Mechanical Modes

Inertial imaging using mechanical resonators allows for estimation of the mass distribution (and its spatial moments) of physical adsorbates on the resonator surface by tracking the frequency shift associated with multiple normal modes. Increased imaging resolution typically relies on increasing the number of modes being simultaneously tracked. This paper presents an approach towards inertial imaging of physical perturbations of a mechanical resonator with the possibility for absolute resolution, using two mechanical modes only.