Hybrid Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems for Highly Reliable and Selective Characterization of Tank Waste

Research Objectives Our multifaceted research program is aimed at the fundamental and practical development of hybrid micro-electro-mechanical-systems (MEMS) that integrates several elements of chemical selectivity and sensor function. We are developing MEMS sensors that combine chemimechanical transduction, and surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) and radiation detection. One of our goals is to develop highly effective methods of immobilizing a wide variety of molecular and ionic recognition phases onto micromechanical surfaces. We have introduced fundamentally new modes of adsorbate-induced surface stress through nano-structuring of microcantilever surfaces; the responsivity for has increased by over two-orders of magnitude over previously existing technological approaches. Noble metal nanostructures similar to those that enhance chemi-mechanical transduction exhibit substantial Raman enhancement factors.