Contact-free experimental determination of the static flexural spring constant of cantilever sensors using a microfluidic force tool

John David Parkin; Georg Hähner

doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.43

Contact-free experimental determination of the static flexural spring constant of cantilever sensors using a microfluidic force tool

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Micro- and nanocantilevers are employed in atomic force microscopy (AFM) and in micro- and nanoelectromechanical systems (MEMS and NEMS) as sensing elements. They enable nanomechanical measurements, are essential for the characterization of nanomaterials, and form an integral part of many nanoscale devices. Despite the fact that numerous methods described in the literature
can be applied to determine the static flexural spring constant of micro- and nanocantilever sensors, experimental techniques that do not require contact between the sensor and a surface at some point during the calibration process are still the exception rather than the rule. We describe a noncontact method using a microfluidic force tool that produces accurate forces and demonstrate
that this, in combination with a thermal noise spectrum, can provide the static flexural spring constant for cantilever sensors of different geometric shapes over a wide range of spring constant values (≈0.8–160 N/m).

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	492-500
Journal	Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology
Volume	7
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3762/bjnano.7.43
Publication status	Published - 30 Mar 2016

Keywords

AFM
Cantilever sensors
Microfluidic force tool
Spring constant

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10.3762/bjnano.7.43Licence: CC BY

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. (2016) 7 492-500
© 2016 Parkin and Hähner; licensee Beilstein-Institut. This is an Open Access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Final published version, 2.96 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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title = "Contact-free experimental determination of the static flexural spring constant of cantilever sensors using a microfluidic force tool",

abstract = "Micro- and nanocantilevers are employed in atomic force microscopy (AFM) and in micro- and nanoelectromechanical systems (MEMS and NEMS) as sensing elements. They enable nanomechanical measurements, are essential for the characterization of nanomaterials, and form an integral part of many nanoscale devices. Despite the fact that numerous methods described in the literaturecan be applied to determine the static flexural spring constant of micro- and nanocantilever sensors, experimental techniques that do not require contact between the sensor and a surface at some point during the calibration process are still the exception rather than the rule. We describe a noncontact method using a microfluidic force tool that produces accurate forces and demonstratethat this, in combination with a thermal noise spectrum, can provide the static flexural spring constant for cantilever sensors of different geometric shapes over a wide range of spring constant values (≈0.8–160 N/m).",

keywords = "AFM, Cantilever sensors, Microfluidic force tool, Spring constant",

author = "Parkin, {John David} and Georg H{\"a}hner",

note = "Financial support from the EPSRC (EP/K000411/1 and EP/L017008/1) and the University of St. Andrews under an Impact Acceleration Account (EP/K503940/1) are gratefully acknowledged.",

year = "2016",

month = mar,

day = "30",

doi = "10.3762/bjnano.7.43",

language = "English",

volume = "7",

pages = "492--500",

journal = "Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology",

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T1 - Contact-free experimental determination of the static flexural spring constant of cantilever sensors using a microfluidic force tool

AU - Parkin, John David

AU - Hähner, Georg

N1 - Financial support from the EPSRC (EP/K000411/1 and EP/L017008/1) and the University of St. Andrews under an Impact Acceleration Account (EP/K503940/1) are gratefully acknowledged.

PY - 2016/3/30

Y1 - 2016/3/30

N2 - Micro- and nanocantilevers are employed in atomic force microscopy (AFM) and in micro- and nanoelectromechanical systems (MEMS and NEMS) as sensing elements. They enable nanomechanical measurements, are essential for the characterization of nanomaterials, and form an integral part of many nanoscale devices. Despite the fact that numerous methods described in the literaturecan be applied to determine the static flexural spring constant of micro- and nanocantilever sensors, experimental techniques that do not require contact between the sensor and a surface at some point during the calibration process are still the exception rather than the rule. We describe a noncontact method using a microfluidic force tool that produces accurate forces and demonstratethat this, in combination with a thermal noise spectrum, can provide the static flexural spring constant for cantilever sensors of different geometric shapes over a wide range of spring constant values (≈0.8–160 N/m).

AB - Micro- and nanocantilevers are employed in atomic force microscopy (AFM) and in micro- and nanoelectromechanical systems (MEMS and NEMS) as sensing elements. They enable nanomechanical measurements, are essential for the characterization of nanomaterials, and form an integral part of many nanoscale devices. Despite the fact that numerous methods described in the literaturecan be applied to determine the static flexural spring constant of micro- and nanocantilever sensors, experimental techniques that do not require contact between the sensor and a surface at some point during the calibration process are still the exception rather than the rule. We describe a noncontact method using a microfluidic force tool that produces accurate forces and demonstratethat this, in combination with a thermal noise spectrum, can provide the static flexural spring constant for cantilever sensors of different geometric shapes over a wide range of spring constant values (≈0.8–160 N/m).

KW - AFM

KW - Cantilever sensors

KW - Microfluidic force tool

KW - Spring constant

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DO - 10.3762/bjnano.7.43

M3 - Article

SN - 2190-4286

VL - 7

SP - 492

EP - 500

JO - Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology

JF - Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology

ER -

Contact-free experimental determination of the static flexural spring constant of cantilever sensors using a microfluidic force tool

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Keywords

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Contact-free experimental determination of the static flexural spring constant of cantilever sensors using a microfluidic force tool

Abstract

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Projects

Impact Acceleration Account: Impact Acceleration Account

Modification of silicon substrates: Modification of Silicon Oxide Substrates with Functional Ultrthin Organic Films

Upgrade Small Equipment Base: Small items of research equipment at the University of St Andrews. Supporting a new generation of physical sciences research

Cite this