Engineering Commons^™

Unconventional Uses Of Microcantilevers As Chemical Sensors In Gas And Liquid Media, I. Dufour, Fabien Josse, Stephen M. Heinrich, C. Lucat, C. Ayela, F. Ménil, O. Brand

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

The use of microcantilevers as (bio)chemical sensors usually involves the application of a chemically sensitive layer. The coated device operates either in a static bending regime or in a dynamic flexural mode. While some of these coated devices may be operated successfully in both the static and the dynamic modes, others may suffer from certain shortcomings depending on the type of coating, the medium of operation and the sensing application. Such shortcomings include lack of selectivity and reversibility of the sensitive coating and a reduced quality factor due to the surrounding medium. In particular, the performance of microcantilevers excited in …