The deflection signal of a thermally excited force sensor of an atomic force microscope can be analyzed to gain important information about the detector noise and about the validity of the equipartion theorem of thermodynamics. Here, we measured the temperature dependence of the thermal amplitude of a tuning fork and compared it to the expected values based on the equipartition theorem. In doin...

This paper presents the design and fabrication of a new packaged MEMS capacitive temperature sensor for engine component health-monitoring applications and measurement results above 500-600°C. The multimorphs employed are thermal-SiO2/LPCVD-Si3N4/sputtered-Au beams designed for deflection at these temperatures. The mean initial capacitance of the sensors is 6.441 pF; with a standard deviation o...

This paper aims to investigate the pull-in phenomenon of functionally graded (FG) capacitive nanocantilevers subjected to an electrostatic force and thermal moment due to an applied voltage and thermal shock considering intermolecular force within the framework of nonlocal elasticity theory to account for the small scale effect. The FG nano-beam is made of mixture of metal and ceramic which the...

The fabrication of an ion-exchanged waveguide beam deflector containing a photowritten grating is described. The planar waveguide was fabricated by thermal K(+) exchange in a borosilicate glass. The grating was written by photobleaching an absorption defect centered at 330 am, which was created by gamma-ray irradiation of the glass. The bleaching was accomplished with the 351-nm line from an ar...

The stability of the Io plasma toms-atmosphere interaction is examined. A simple plasma deflection model describes how transients in the plasma flux and the content of the atmosphere affect the ionospheric conductance, limiting the plasma bombardment and, hence, the supply of atmospheric species to the toms. The supply of the toms is seen to be determined by the thermal structure of the plasma,...

In atomic force microscopy, cantilevers with a reflective coating are often used to reduce optical shot noise for deflection detection. However, static AFM experiments can be limited by classical noise and therefore may not benefit from a reduction in shot noise. Furthermore, the cantilever coating has the detrimental side-effect of coupling light power fluctuations into true cantilever bending...

Growing need for a variety of micro electro-mechanical systems necessitates advances in manufacturing technologies for high volume production at low cost. In this study, a mechanical micro pump actuator will be modelled using MEMS module of COMSOL simulation tool. The micro pump actuator will be based on bimetallic actuation which in-turn is based on the difference in the thermal expansion coef...

The suspended electrothermal polysilicon micro beams generate displacements and forces by thermal buckling effects. In the previous electro-thermal and thermo-elastic models of suspended polysilicon micro beams, the thermo-mechanical properties of polysilicon have been considered constant over a wide rang of temperature (20900°C). In reality, the thermo-mechanical properties of polysilicon depe...

The metastable defects of a-Si:H samples annealed at temperatures in the 300-550°C range have been studied by photothermal deflection spectroscopy (PDS). The light-soaked samples show an increase in optical absorption in the 0.8 to 1.5 eV range. The metastable defect density decreases when the annealing temperature increases, while the defect density increases. This decrease in the metastable d...

The two current criteria for diagnosis of left anterior fascicular block (LAFB) were evaluated; they are marked left axis deviation (LAD) and a delay in the time of inscription of the intrinsicoid deflection (ID) in lead aVL asynchronous to V6. From 400 electrocardiograms with a LAD of --30 degrees or greater, 62 percent showed asynchronous activation of the left ventricle. There was only a gen...