An efficient, electrically conductive, chemical barrier for the integration of piezoelectric Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 (PZT) films on reactive metal substrates has been developed, opening new possibilities for PZT integration on micromechanical and semiconductor devices, Very reactive zirconium films have been taken in order to test the quality of the specially designed RuO2/Cr buffer under the condition of ...

Bacteriorhodopsin proteoliposomes were used as a model system to explore the applicability of micromechanical cantilever arrays to detect conformational changes in membrane protein patches. The three main results of our study concern: 1), reliable functionalization of micromechanical cantilever arrays with proteoliposomes using ink jet spotting; 2), successful detection of the prosthetic retina...

Two types of single-crystal silicon micromechanical resonators having resonant frequencies at 150 kHz and 130 kHz were tested under harsh environment to investigate stability. To observe long-term stability, the main characteristics, such as resonant frequency and quality factor were measured over 2,500 hrs continuously while maintaining constant environmental temperature at 25°C±0.1°C. A separ...

Flapping wings provide unmatched maneuverability for flying micro-robots. Recent advances in modelling insect aerodynamics show that adequate wing rotation at the end of the stroke is essential for generating adequate flight forces. We developed a thorax structure using four bar frames combined with an extensible fan-fold wing to provide adequate wing stroke and rotation. Flow measurements on a...

This paper presents the results of an experimental study on the effect of limestone powder on the compressive strength, tensile behavior, and micromechanical parameters of a highly ductile cement composite incorporating limestone powder. Four mixtures were determined according to the replacement ratio of cement with limestone powder. A series of experiments including compressive strength, uniax...

A micromechanical model for 2-D triaxial braided composites is presented. The tow arrangement in the representative unit cell is modeled by solving the packing problem using analytical optimization, avoiding the need to measure the geometric properties experimentally. These results are used in the development of a closed-form micromechanical model predicting the full 3-D stiffness matrix of the...

A topology optimization problem in micromechanical resonator design is addressed in this paper. The design goal is to control the first several eigenfrequencies of a micromechanical resonator using topology optimization. The design variable is the distribution of mass in a constrained domain which we model via (1) the Simple Isotropic Material with Penalization Model and (2) the Peak Function M...

The mechanism of action of the Vacuum Assisted Closure Therapy (VAC; KCI, San Antonio, Texas), a recent novel innovation in the care of wounds, remains unknown. In vitro studies have revealed that cells allowed to stretch tend to divide and proliferate in the presence of soluble mitogens, whereas retracted cells remain quiescent. The authors hypothesize that application of micromechanical force...