Measurement of force on a micro- or nano-Newton scale is important when exploring the mechanical properties of materials in the biophysics and nanomechanical fields. The atomic force microscope (AFM) is widely used in microforce measurement. The cantilever probe works as an AFM force sensor, and the spring constant of the cantilever is of great significance to the accuracy of the measurement re...

Cantilever sensors have been extensively explored as a promising technique for real-time and label-free analyses in biological systems. A major sensing principle utilized by state-of-the-art cantilever sensors is based on analyte-induced surface stress changes, which result in static bending of a cantilever. The sensor performance, however, suffers from the intrinsically small change in surface...

Microcantilevers are widely used in micro-/nanoscale mechanics studies. The nonlinear response of a cantilever at large deflection is sometimes overlooked. A general study of cantilever beam nonlinearity under a variety of loading conditions was performed with analytical and finite element analyses. Analytical equations for the applied load and the cantilever deflection were obtained. The canti...

Preventing unexpected explosive attacks and tracing explosion-related molecules require the development of highly sensitive gas-vapor detection systems. For that purpose, a micromechanical cantilever-based olfactory sensing system including a sample preconcentrator was developed to detect 2,4-dinitrotoluene (2,4-DNT), which is a well-known by-product of the explosive molecule trinitrotoluene (T...

Current progress on the use of dynamic-mode cantilever sensors for biosensing applications is critically reviewed. We summarize their use in biosensing applications to date with focus given to: cantilever size (milli-, micro-, and nano-cantilevers), their geometry, and material used in fabrication. The review also addresses techniques investigated for both exciting and measuring cantilever reso...

This paper investigates damping ratio in micro-beam resonators based on magneto-thermo-elasticity. A unique aspect of the present study is the effect of permanent magnetic field on the stiffness and thermo-elastic damping of the micro resonators. In our modeling the theory of thermo-elasticity with interacting of an externally applied permanent magnetic field is taken into account. Combined the...

We have developed a new microelectromechanical logic device using the MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems) technology. This device consists simply of a single cantilever and two driving electrodes with two contact pads for electrostatic operation. Both exclusive NOR (XNOR) and exclusive OR (XOR) logic devices have been realized using this simple construction.

Microcantilevers are key components of many Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) and Micro-Optical-ElectroMechanical Systems (MOEMS) because slight changes to them physically or chemically lead to changes in mechanical characteristics. An inexpensive dual-fiberoptic microcantilever proximity sensor and model to predict its performance are reported here. Motion of a magnetic-material-coated c...