We investigate the intrinsic noise of a micro-mechanical displacement detector based on the radio-frequency single-electron transistor (rf-SET). Using the noise analysis of a SET by Korotkov as our starting point, we determine the spectral density of the displacement noise due to the tunneling current shot noise. The resulting mechanical displacement noise decreases in inverse proportion to the...

When assembling MEMS devices or manipulating biological cells it is often beneficial to have information about the force that is being applied to these objects. This force information is difficult to measure at these scales and up to now has been implemented using laser-based optical force measurement techniques or piezoresistive devices. In this paper we demonstrate a method to reliably measur...

A piezoelectric bimorph beam, as an upgraded cantilever beam structure, can be used to detect gas content and build a micro-actuator, among other functions. Thus, this beam is widely applied to microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), transformers, and precision machinery. For example, when photoacoustic spectroscopy is performed to detect oil-soluble gas in transformers, a micro-cantilever beam ...

This paper presents the design and fabrication of a novel piezoelectric actuator for a gas micro pump with check valve having the advantages of miniature size, light weight and low power consumption. The micro pump is designed to have eight major components, namely a stainless steel upper cover layer, a piezoelectric actuator, a stainless steel diaphragm, a PDMS chamber layer, two stainless ste...

Design, fabrication, and testing of a micromachined cantilever beam that is optically transmissive and operates in the resonant mode is presented with application as a micro-optical scanner. An optical waveguide is formed from a 2.2 mm thick SiO2 layer deposited on a single crystal silicon wafer and etched to yield a SiO2/Si composite slab cantilever. Using a novel capacitively coupled reactive...

We report a modular atomic force microscope (AFM) design for biomolecular experiments. The AFM head uses readily available components and incorporates deflection-based optics and a piezotube-based cantilever actuator. Jetted-polymers have been used in the mechanical assembly, which allows rapid manufacturing. In addition, a FeCo-tipped electromagnet provides high-force cantilever actuation with...

Quantitative force spectroscopy experiments require a comprehensive knowledge of the frequency response characteristics of the micro-cantilever. To establish a generic theoretical model an analytical mathematical description of the cantilever dynamics in force spectroscopy was developed using a transfer function approach. This study allows for quantitative evaluation of force spectroscopy exper...

Curved thin sheets are ubiquitously found in nature and manmade structures from macro- to nanoscale. Within the framework of classical thin plate theory, the stiffness of thin sheets is independent of its bending state for small deflections. This assumption, however, goes against intuition. Simple experiments with a cantilever sheet made of paper show that the cantilever stiffness largely incre...