We report a microarray of cantilevers to detect multiple unlabeled biomolecules simultaneously at nanomolar concentrations within minutes. Ligand-receptor binding interactions such as DNA hybridization or protein recognition occurring on microfabricated silicon cantilevers generate nanomechanical bending, which is detected optically in situ. Differential measurements including reference cantile...

We report the fabrication of silicon microcantilevers with MOSFET detection, to be used in force measurements for biomolecular detection. Thin cantilevers are required for a high force sensitivity. Therefore the source and drain of the transistors have been fabricated by As implantation to obtain shallow PN junctions. The cantilevers have been oriented on the non-standard (100) crystallographic...

An actuation method for atomic force microscope ~AFM! cantilevers in fluids is reported. The radiation pressure generated by a focused acoustic transducer at radio frequency ~rf! ~100–300 MHz! exerts a localized force of controlled amplitude at a desired location on the AFM cantilever. This force can be used to measure the spring constant and other dynamic properties of the cantilever. Furtherm...

THE FLUID-COUPLED MOTION OF MICRO AND NANOSCALE CANTILEVERS

The determination of fluid density and viscosity using most cantilever-based sensors is based on changes in resonant frequency and peak width. Here, we present a wave propagation analysis using piezoelectrically excited micro-cantilevers under distributed fluid loading. The standing wave shapes of microscale-thickness cantilevers partially immersed in liquids (water, 25% glycerol, and acetone),...

This paper reports the development of optical lever based parylene cantilevers for biochemical sensing. A simple but effective process to fabricate parylene cantilevers using Tetramethylammonium Hydroxide (TMAH) bulkmicromachining was demonstrated. A scheme of using anchoring holes was employed to prevent the peeling off of parylene during TMAH etching. Moreover, ridge structures were incorpora...

The controlled deposition of functional layers is the key to converting nanomechanical cantilevers into chemical or biochemical sensors. Here, we introduce inkjet printing as a rapid and general method to coat cantilever arrays efficiently with various sensor layers. Self-assembled monolayers of alkanethiols were deposited on selected Au-coated cantilevers and rendered them sensitive to ion con...

Micro-cantilever arrays with different dimensions are fabricated by micromachining technique onto silicon <1 0 0> substrate. These sputtered Gold-Coated micro-cantilevers were later surface functionalized. Scanning Electron Microscopy, Atomic Force Microscopy and Optical SWLI using LASER probe are employed to characterize the morphology and image measurement of the micro-cantilever arrays, resp...

We report the fabrication, functionalization and testing of microdevices for cell culture and cell traction force measurements in three-dimensions (3D). The devices are composed of bent cantilevers patterned with cell-adhesive spots not lying on the same plane, and thus suspending cells in 3D. The cantilevers are soft enough to undergo micrometric deflections when cells pull on them, allowing c...

We present an atomic force microscope (AFM) head for optical beam deflection on small cantilevers. Our AFM head is designed to be small in size, easily integrated into a commercial AFM system, and has a modular architecture facilitating exchange of the optical and electronic assemblies. We present two different designs for both the optical beam deflection and the electronic readout systems, and...