Optical beam deflection is a widely used method for detecting the deflection of atomic force microscope (AFM) cantilevers. This paper presents a first order derivation for the angular detection noise density which determines the lower limit for deflection sensing. Surprisingly, the cantilever radius of curvature, commonly not considered, plays a crucial role and can be exploited to decrease ang...

Nonlinear bistable systems have been shown to provide improved efficiency for harvesting energy from random and broadband vibration sources. This article explores the distinct frequency response in the broadened spectrum of a particular nonlinear energy harvester, a piezoelectric cantilever with magnetic coupling. The cantilever response evolves dynamically with frequency around the main cantil...

In an electromechanical which-path device electrons travelling through an Aharonov– Bohm ring with a quantum dot in one of the arms are dephased by an interaction with the fundamental flexural mode of a radio-frequency cantilever, leading to a reduction in the visibility of interference fringes. However, at finite temperatures time-averaged measurement of the current leads to a fringe visibilit...

A 15-cantilever-type force-sensor unit is presented for the measurement of palatolingual contact stress and pattern during palatal consonant phonation. The force sensor unit is composed of a strain gauge and a cantilever, and is embedded in a thin palatal plate attached to the human hard palate. It is 3 mm wide, by 5 mm long, and 1.3 mm thick. The output of the force sensor unit at the low stre...

Considerable attention has been devoted to active vibration control using intelligent materials as PZT actuators. This paper presents results on active control schemes for vibration suppression of flexible steel cantilever beam with bonded piezoelectric actuators. The PZT patches are surface bonded near the fixed end of flexible steel cantilever beam. The dynamic model of the flexible steel can...

We present in-depth discussion of the design and optimization of a nanomechanical sensor using a silicon cantilever comprising a two-dimensional photonic crystal (PC) nanocavity resonator arranged in a U-shaped silicon PC waveguide. For example, the minimum detectable strain, vertical deflection at the cantilever end, and force load are observed as 0.0133%, 0.37 mum, and 0.0625 muN, respectivel...

This paper presents a new design and fabrication process of a multiple-thickness electrochemical cantilever sensor, in order to assess the role of the cantilever’s thickness on the chemically-induced mechanical effects. Each cantilever can act not only as a functionalized cantilever, but also as an independent working electrode (WE) for electrochemical measurement. The different thicknesses of ...

Photothermal excitation is an alternative cantilever drive mechanism for tapping mode atomic force microscopy. It uses a power-modulated laser focused on the cantilever to directly drive its oscillation, producing cantilever tunes that match the thermal response almost perfectly. This enables quantitatively accurate AFM imaging and viscoelastic nanomechanical mapping in all environments. In add...

Micro-cantilever sensors for mass detection using resonance frequency have attracted considerable attention over the last decade in the field of gas sensing. For such a sensing system, an oscillator circuit loop is conventionally used to actuate the micro-cantilever, and trace the frequency shifts. In this paper, gas experiments are introduced to investigate the mechanical resonance frequency s...

We present a theoretical investigation of stiction in nanoscale electromechanical contact switches. We develop a mathematical model to describe the deflection of a cantilever beam in response to both electrostatic and van der Waals forces. Particular focus is given to the question of whether adhesive van der Waals forces cause the cantilever to remain in the 'ON' state even when the electrostat...