Thermomechanical analysis (TMA) is widely used to characterize materials and determine transition temperatures and thermal expansion coefficients. Atomic-force microscopy (AFM) microcantilevers have been used for TMA. We have developed a micromachined probe that includes two embedded sensors: one for measuring the mechanical movement of the probe (deflection) and another for providing localized...

An optically thin MEMS beam suspended above a substrate and illuminated with a CW laser forms an interferometer, coupling out-of-plane deflection of the beam to absorption within it. In turn, laser absorption creates thermal stresses which drive further deflection. This coupling of motion to thermal stresses can cause limit cycle oscillations in which the beam vibrates in the absence of periodi...

Characterization and Preliminary Demonstration of Microcantilever Array Integrated Sensors Ryan R. Anderson Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, BYU Doctor of Philosophy I characterize the behavior of microcantilever arrays which utilize the in-plane photonic transduction that I’ve previously developed and evaluate the performance of the microcantilever arrays in simple sensing sc...

Current rapid development in MEMS area has opened up many possibilities in nano-technology such as nano-fabrication. Among them is nanoscale wiring by both AFM (Atomic Force Microscope) tip and laser beam. Being able to make a relatively small deflection, a micro thermal actuator can be used to control the near field optics of the beam minutely and accurately. In this project, we will investiga...

Photothermal beam deflection studies were carried out with GaAs epitaxial double layers grown on semi-insulating GaAs substrates. The impurity densities in thin epitaxial layers were found to influence the effective thermal diffusivity of the entire structure.

Related Articles Effects of heat treatment and contact resistance on the thermal conductivity of individual multiwalled carbon nanotubes using a Wollaston wire thermal probe J. Appl. Phys. 111, 054321 (2012) A 3-dimensional time-resolved photothermal deflection “Mirage” method Appl. Phys. Lett. 100, 091908 (2012) Thermal characterization of composites made up of magnetically aligned carbonyl ir...

The force sensor is key to the performance of atomic force microscopy (AFM). Nowadays, most atomic force microscopes use micromachined force sensors made from silicon, but piezoelectric quartz sensors are being applied at an increasing rate, mainly in vacuum. These self-sensing force sensors allow a relatively easy upgrade of a scanning tunneling microscope to a combined scanning tunneling/atom...

In this paper we investigate a thermal driven Micro-Electrical-Mechanical system which was originally designed for inkjet printer to precisely deliver small ink droplets onto paper. In the model, a tiny free-ended beam of metal bends and projects ink onto paper. The model is solved by using the recently developed radial basis functions method. We establish the accuracy of the proposed approach ...

Related Articles A 3-dimensional time-resolved photothermal deflection “Mirage” method Appl. Phys. Lett. 100, 091908 (2012) Thermal characterization of composites made up of magnetically aligned carbonyl iron particles in a polyester resin matrix J. Appl. Phys. 111, 054906 (2012) How does folding modulate thermal conductivity of graphene? Appl. Phys. Lett. 100, 093107 (2012) Thermal conductivit...