We review progress toward microcantilever arrays with in-plane photonic readout for biosensing applications. Microcantilever arrays are fabricated on individual silicon-on-insulator (SOI) chips and integrated with two-layer polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microfluidics that incorporate fluid channels and valves. Microcantilever functionalization is accomplished by inkjetting appropriate fluids onto...

Femtomolar concentrations of hydrogen fluoride, a decomposition component of nerve agents, were detected using a SiO(2) microcantilever. The microcantilever underwent bending due to the reaction of HF with SiO(2). The microcantilever deflection increased as the concentration of HF increased. Other acids, such as HCl, had no effect on the deflection of the cantilever. The mechanism of reaction-i...

We have investigated the sensing performance of protein-based microcantilever biosensors prepared from multiple surface conjugation chemistries. The 11-mercaptoundecanoic acid monolayers were prepared according to both traditional and modified processes. In three protein-based biosensors, the modified process improved microcantilever sensing performance by increasing the bending amplitude, a cr...

We present here a combined theoretical and experimental investigation on effective excitation of microcantilever by using photoacoustic waves. The photoacoustic waves arose from a vibrating Al foil induced by an intensity-modulated laser. We demonstrate that, superior to photothermal excitation, this new configuration avoids direct heating of the microcantilever, thus minimizing undesired therm...

This paper describes an electrostatic excited microcantilever sensor operating in static mode that is more sensitive than traditional microcantilevers. The proposed sensor comprises a simple microcantilever with electrostatic excitation ability and an optical or piezoresistive detector. Initially the microcantilever is excited by electrostatic force to near pull-in voltage. The nonlinear behavi...

Nanomechanical motion of bacteria adhered to a chemically functionalized silicon surface is studied by means of a microcantilever. A non-specific binding agent is used to attach Escherichia coli (E. coli) to the surface of a silicon microcantilever. The microcantilever is kept in a liquid medium, and its nanomechanical fluctuations are monitored using an optical displacement transducer. The mot...

Abstract Boundary constraint induced inhomogeneous effects are important for mechanical responses of nano/micro-devices. For microcantilever sensors, the clamped-end effect static deformation, so called effect, has great influence on detection signals. This paper is devoted to developing an alternative model characterize signals DNA-microcantilever. Different from previous concentrated load mod...

The use of multi-segmented Position Sensitive Photodiodes (PSD) to measure microcantilever deflections have been found to produce nonlinear signal output, especially when the dynamic range is large. The reflected beam of the microcantilever may undergo intensity and shape modifications prior to reaching the PSD. In a multi-microcantilever sensor system the variation in the size of the individua...