Abstract
Mechanical characteristics of a single crystal silicon ultrathin cantilever and their dependence on the geometry was investigated in this paper. The cantilevers with thickness 60 and 170 nm and length 5-120 μm have been fabricated from 〈100〉-oriented SIMOX wafer. Preliminary results show that the longer cantilevers (L>30 μm) have higher mechanical quality factor, Q (>104) than the shorter ones (L<30 μm), since the shorter one is more susceptible to the energy loss, i.e., support loss and surface loss (oxide layer). Furthermore, multimode resonance of the longer cantilever was observable within the measurable range, and all of them have the Q factor higher than 104. By using the high resonance mode, these cantilevers are theoretically capable of detecting the force as small as 2×10-17 N. In addition, the atomic scale mass resolution (1.4×10-22 g) is also expected by these cantilevers if it is used for sensing the mass load. Using the dynamic detection method, water vapor adsorption was detected, and the mass resolution of the cantilever is roughly estimated to be 2.9×10-17 g.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 102-107 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Sensors and Actuators, A: Physical |
Volume | 82 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2000 May 15 |
Event | The 10th International Conference on Solid-State Sensors and Actuators TRANSDUCERS '99 - Sendai, Jpn Duration: 1999 Jun 7 → 1999 Jun 10 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
- Instrumentation
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Surfaces, Coatings and Films
- Metals and Alloys
- Electrical and Electronic Engineering