Instant curvature measurement for microcantilever sensors

Microcantilever Sensors for In-Situ Subsurface Characterization

Aptamer functionalized microcantilever sensors for cocaine detection.

A cocaine-specific aptamer was used as a receptor molecule in a microcantilever-based surface stress sensor for detection of cocaine molecules. An interferometric technique that relies on measuring differential displacement between two microcantilevers (a sensing/reference pair) was utilized to measure the cocaine/aptamer binding induced surface stress changes. Sensing experiments were performe...

Generating the curvature perturbation with instant preheating

A new mechanism for generating the curvature perturbation at the end of inflaton has been investigated. The dominant contribution to the primordial curvature perturbation may be generated during the period of instant preheating. The mechanism converts isocurvature perturbation related to a light field into curvature perturbation, where the “light field” is not the inflaton field. This mechanism...

Electrostatic Excitation for the Force Amplification of Microcantilever Sensors

This paper describes an electrostatic excited microcantilever sensor operating in static mode that is more sensitive than traditional microcantilevers. The proposed sensor comprises a simple microcantilever with electrostatic excitation ability and an optical or piezoresistive detector. Initially the microcantilever is excited by electrostatic force to near pull-in voltage. The nonlinear behavi...

Measurement of Temperature Induced Unfolding of DNA Hairpins by Microcantilever Sensors

The technical feasibility of monitoring DNA melting and cooling transitions using a microcantilever substrate has been demonstrated and these results were compared with those measured in solution by circular dichroism. DNA hairpins have been immobilized on the surface of gold-coated microcantilever surfaces and their DNA melting and cooling transitions were monitored by nanomechanical deflectio...