  In this work we use a micromechanical resonator to experimentally study small
signal amplification near the onset of Duffing bistability. The device consists
of a PdAu beam serving as a micromechanical resonator excited by an adjacent
gate electrode. A large pump signal drives the resonator near the onset of
bistability, enabling amplification of small signals in a narrow bandwidth. To
first order, the amplification is inversely proportional to the frequency
difference between the pump and signal. We estimate the gain to be about 15dB
for our device.
