一种硅/二氧化硅双层微悬臂梁温度传感器

利用IC工艺和微机械加工技术制作了一种硅／二氧化硅双层微悬臂梁温度传感器。基于硅和二氧化硅两种材料热膨胀系数的差异，不同温度下梁的挠度不同，其形变可通过位于梁根部的压敏电桥检测。理论计算和实验结果表明：压敏电桥输出电压与温度成线性关系。对器件结构进行了优化设计，实验探索了提高传感器测量重复性的时效处理工艺。该温度传感器可用于瞬态温度的测量。     

Resonance based DC current sensor

The paper presents design, development and testing of a resonant proximity DC current sensor to measure current in the range of 0-20 mA. The sensor is built using cantilever structure with piezoelectric excitation, sensing and closed loop electronics. The sensor measures the DC current by measuring the shift in resonance frequency of the cantilever beam. The proposed measurement system is novel, simple and accuracy is found to be 1.1% of full scale deflection.     

Modeling and characterization of piezoelectric cantilever in fluids at different temperatures

This paper introduces measurement and modeling of a piezoelectric beam used as a sensor in different types of liquids. It is immersed in different fluids at temperatures increasing from 20 °C to 50 °C. The working principle is based on detecting different resonance frequencies of the cantilever in different solutions. The oscillation of piezoelectric beam is measured using a vector network analyzer. An electrical equivalent circuit derived from a resonator model is used to simulate the experimental data. These calculated circuit constants have been related to physical properties of liquids under test. The combination of these liquids which includes non-conducting and conducting solutions, exhibiting low and high viscosity covers a good range of common physical properties of fluids. Main focus of this research is to explore the capability of piezoelectric cantilever as a liquid sensor with the influence of temperature. The equivalent circuit model has been proved to be viable to fit experimental data in non-conducting solution but less effective in conducting solution.     

Piezoelectric based resonant mass sensor using phase measurement

The paper presents design, development and testing of a resonant sensor to measure mass in the range of 0-12 g. The sensor is built using cantilever structure with piezoelectric excitation, sensing and microcontroller based closed loop electronics. The sensor measures the unknown mass by measuring the shift in resonance frequency of the cantilever beam. The shift in resonance frequency for a change in mass is detected by measuring the phase difference between the piezoelectric sensor output and actuator input using microcontroller. The proposed measurement system is simple and accuracy is found to be ±1.2% of full scale deflection.     

Uncooled IR imaging using optomechanical detectors

In this study, we present an uncooled infrared imaging detector using knife-edge filter optical readout method. The tilt angle change of each cantilever in a focal plane array (FPA) can be simultaneously detected with a resolution of 10(-5) degrees. A deformation magnifying substrate-free microcantilever unit is specially designed. The multi-fold legs of microcantilever are interval metal coated to form a thermal deformation magnifying structure. Thermal and thermomechanical performance of this microcantilever unit are modeled and analyzed. An FPA with 100 x 100 pixels is fabricated and thermal images of human body are obtained by this detector.     

谐振式MEMS温度传感器设计

为了实现以频率输出为信号的气象温度测量,提出了一种基于双层悬臂梁的谐振式微温度传感器。基于双悬臂梁不同材料热膨胀系数的差异会导致悬臂梁谐振频率偏移的原理,采用压电方式同时实现悬臂梁的驱动及其谐振频率的检测,从而实现温度的测量。根据硅基传感器的正面腐蚀工艺,设计了谐振悬臂梁的双层结构,采用有限元方法分析了悬臂梁的谐振模态、可利用的振型及其温度与各模态谐振频率的关系,并利用多普勒振动系统对悬臂梁的谐振特性进行了研究。实验发现悬臂梁的二阶弯曲振型Q值相对于其它振型是最大的,其Q值约为150;高阶振型特别是二阶弯曲振型适合用于以ZnO为压电材料的温度传感器的频率检测,并且具有相对较高的灵敏度(约为20Hz/℃)和频率温度系数(1.9×10-4/℃)。结果表明,微型温度传感器能够满足气象温度检测的要求,并具有抗干扰能力强、灵敏度高、信号传输接口简单等优点。     

Microthermogravimetry using a microcantilever hot plate with integrated temperature-compensated piezoresistive strain sensors

This paper reports thermogravimetric analysis of nanogram samples of paraffin using a microcantilever hot plate. The microcantilever hot plate has an integrated temperature-controlled heater and integrated temperature-compensated strain-sensing piezoresistors. The microcantilever vibration amplitude was measured using either a laser and a position sensitive photodiode, or using the piezoresistors. The cantilever resonance was measured as the cantilever was heated, such that the analyte mass could be measured as a function of temperature. Both optical and piezoresistive methods were employed to generate thermogravimetric curves for analytes in the range of 1-3 ng, and the results of the two methods compared well.     

Measurement of thermal conductivity of fluid using single and dual wire transient techniques

A modified measurement device to measure thermal conductivity of fluids using transient hot-wire technique has been designed, developed, tested and presented in this paper. The equipment is designed such that the thermal conductivity could be measured using both single wire sensor of different length and dual wire sensor. The sensor, which is also a heater, is a platinum micro-wire of 50 μm diameter. The influence of wire length on the measurement of thermal conductivity of fluids is tested using two single wires of length 50 mm and 100 mm. The thermal conductivity is also measured using a dual hot wire arrangement; which is achieved by placing the 100 mm and 50 mm wires in a Wheatstone bridge with the 100 mm wire as the sensor and 50 mm wire as a compensation wire. The apparatus requires a 100 ml of test fluid to perform the experiment. The testing temperature of the test fluid during the experimentation can be suitably varied by the choice of heat exchange fluid used in the apparatus. Water is chosen as testing fluids for primary standards. When compared to single wires, the thermal conductivity of the fluids measured is consistent with dual-wire method with an uncertainty of ±0.25%.     

Analytical and experimental study of mismatch strain-induced microcantilever behavior during deposition

A model of mechanical behavior of microcantilever due to mismatch strain during deposition of MEMS structures is analytically derived and experimentally verified. First, a microcantilever, modeled as an Euler-Bernoulli beam, is subjected to deposition of another material and a linear ordinary differential equation which considers the throughthickness variation of the mismatch strain is derived. Second, the deposition analysis is experimentally verified by electroplating of nickel onto an AFM cantilever beam. The deflection of the AFM cantilever is measured in-situ as a function of the deposited thin film thickness through the optical method of Atomic Force Microscopy and the mismatch strain with the through-thickness variation is determined from the experiment results. The usefulness of these equations is that they are indicative of the real time behavior of the structures, i.e. it predicts the deflection of the beam continuously during deposition process.     

A diaphragm-type fiber Bragg grating pressure sensor with temperature compensation

A diaphragm-type fiber Bragg grating (FBG) pressure sensor with two bare FBGs directly bonded on a circular diaphragm along the radial direction has been proposed and studied. Measurement principle and simulation analysis of the pressure sensor are introduced. Using the wavelength shift difference of the two FBGs which respectively measure the positive and negative strain as sensing signal, the pressure sensitivity is increased and the temperature cross-sensitivity is compensated. Experimental results indicate that the measurement sensitivity is 1.57 pm/kPa in a range from 0 to 1 MPa, the correlative coefficient reaches 99.996%, and the temperature compensation performance is distinct. This kind of pressure sensor could be used to measure and monitor the static/dynamic pressure of gas or liquid.     

Compact and accurate digital thermometer based on Anderson’s loop and Pt-100 sensor

A simple and practical digital thermometer with an accuracy better than 0.1°C over a near-room-temperature (from −10°C to 50°C) measurement range has been developed. The instrument is compact and battery operated and provides for both digital and analog outputs. A four-lead platinum thermal sensor, driven by a constant current loop, allows for accurate temperature readings with high immunity to the contact resistances and to their variations. A low-noise electronics allows for temperature measurements with a 1 mK resolution. By experimentally characterizing the non-linearity of the adopted Pt-100 sensor, a suitable readout correction table has been calculated in order to compensate for the sensor non-linear behavior. This compensating procedure allows for a wider (from −50°C to +200°C) and higher accuracy (0.05°C) measurement range. The ultimate accuracy was essentially limited by the accuracy of the temperature standard used for calibration.     

Step response measurement of AFM cantilever for analysis of frequency-resolved viscoelasticity

Extension of AFM-based viscoelasticity measurement into a frequency-resolved analysis is attempted. A cantilever immersed into and interacting with distilled water was employed for the trial system. Using a home-built wideband magnetic excitation AFM, a step force with a transient time less than 1 μs is applied to the AFM cantilever and its deflection is measured. The 1st and 2nd mode resonance ringing of the cantilever was suppressed using quality-factor-control technique, so that the measurement system becomes equivalent to driving a resonance-free virtual cantilever within the bandwidth limited by the surviving 3rd mode resonance. From the obtained response of the cantilever deflection, a frequency-dependent complex compliance of the cantilever-water system was derived in a frequency range of 1–100 kHz. Effect of water confining between the tip and a mica substrate is discussed.     

Improving tapping mode atomic force microscopy with piezoelectric cantilevers

This article summarizes improvements to the speed, simplicity and versatility of tapping mode atomic force microscopy (AFM). Improvements are enabled by a piezoelectric microcantilever with a sharp silicon tip and a thin, low-stress zinc oxide (ZnO) film to both actuate and sense deflection. First, we demonstrate self-sensing tapping mode without laser detection. Similar previous work has been limited by unoptimized probe tips, cantilever thicknesses, and stress in the piezoelectric films. Tests indicate self-sensing amplitude resolution is as good or better than optical detection, with double the sensitivity, using the same type of cantilever. Second, we demonstrate self-oscillating tapping mode AFM. The cantilever's integrated piezoelectric film serves as the frequency-determining component of an oscillator circuit. The circuit oscillates the cantilever near its resonant frequency by applying positive feedback to the film. We present images and force-distance curves using both self-sensing and self-oscillating techniques. Finally, high-speed tapping mode imaging in liquid, where electric components of the cantilever require insulation, is demonstrated. Three cantilever coating schemes are tested. The insulated microactuator is used to simultaneously vibrate and actuate the cantilever over topographical features. Preliminary images in water and saline are presented, including one taken at 75.5 μm/s—a threefold improvement in bandwidth versus conventional piezotube actuators.     

Microfabricated silicon dioxide cantilever with subwavelength aperture

We have developed a microfabricated SiO₂ cantilever with subwavelength aperture for scanning near-field optical microscopy (SNOM), to overcome the disadvantages of conventional optical fibre probes such as low reproducibility and low optical throughput. The microcantilever, which has a SiO₂ cantilever and an aperture tip near the end of the cantilever, is fabricated in a reproducible batch process. The circular aperture with a diameter of 100–150 nm is formed by a focused ion-beam technique. Incident light is directly focused on the aperture from the rear side of the cantilever using a focusing objective, and high optical throughput (10⁻² to 10⁻³) is obtained. The microcantilever can be operated as a SNOM probe in contact mode or in dynamic mode.     

Expanded beam deflection method for simultaneous measurement of displacement and vibrations of multiple microcantilevers

Here we present an extension of optical beam deflection (OBD) method for measuring displacement and vibrations of an array of microcantilevers. Instead of focusing on the cantilever, the optical beam is either focused above or below the cantilever array, or focused only in the axis parallel to the cantilevers length, allowing a wide optical line to span multiple cantilevers in the array. Each cantilever reflects a part of the incident beam, which is then directed onto a photodiode array detector in a manner allowing distinguishing between individual beams. Each part of reflected beam behaves like a single beam of roughly the same divergence angle in the bending sensing axis as the incident beam. Since sensitivity of the OBD method depends on the divergence angle of deflected beam, high sensitivity is preserved in proposed expanded beam deflection (EBD) method. At the detector, each spot's position is measured at the same time, without time multiplexing of light sources. This provides real simultaneous readout of entire array, unavailable in most of competitive methods, and thus increases time resolution of the measurement. Expanded beam can also span another line of cantilevers allowing monitoring of specially designed two-dimensional arrays. In this paper, we present first results of application of EBD method to cantilever sensors. We show how thermal noise resolution can be easily achieved and combined with thermal noise based resonance frequency measurement.     

Atomic force microscope probe calibration by use of a commercial precision balance

In this paper, we investigate the characteristics of a piezoresistive AFM cantilever in the range of 0–1.6 μN by using nano force calibrator (NFC), which consists of a high precision balance with resolution of 1 nN and 1-D fine positioning stage. Brief modeling of the cantilever is presented and then, the calibration results are shown. Tests revealed a linear relationship between the probing force and sensor output (resistance change), but the force vs. deflection is not as linear as the force vs. sensor output curve. The force constant of the cantilever was measured to 0.26 N/m with a standard deviation of 0.01 N/m. It shows that there is big difference between measured and nominal spring constant of 1 N/m provided by the manufacturer’s specifications.     

An experimental study on the concrete hydration process using Fabry–Perot fiber optic temperature sensors

This paper describes the contribution of Fabry–Perot (FP) fiber optic temperature sensor to investigate the effects of concrete hydration process. The FP temperature sensor was easily fabricated by controllable chemical etching and adjustable fusion splicing. Detailed optical properties of the sensor were theoretically analyzed and temperature calibration experiments were performed. A sensor with a 90 μm cavity length was demonstrated to have a temperature sensitivity of 0.01 nm/°C and the linearity coefficient of 0.99. Furthermore, the FP sensor was embedded in the concrete structure for sensing the temperature change during the early age of hydration. During the concrete hydration experiments, the measured peak temperatures of the concrete specimens with different water-to-cement (w/c) ratios of 0.4, 0.5 and 0.6 were 51.42 °C, 52.88 °C, and 55.08 °C, respectively, corresponding to final setting times of 13.52 h (w/c = 0.4), 14.16 h (w/c = 0.5) and 15.2 h (w/c = 0.6) after concrete casting. Temperature profiles will be used for concrete hydration heat study, which will help us to have a better understanding of cement hydration behavior.     

微型膜结构全光纤珐珀干涉高温传感器

制作了一种微型膜结构的全光纤在线珐珀干涉式高温传感器。该传感器是在单模光纤端面依次熔接一段大芯径空芯光纤和一段研磨的多模光纤膜片而构成的,因此,温度引起的珐珀腔光程差改变量由空芯光纤的热膨胀和温度引起腔内压强改变从而改变膜片的扰度两部分组成,从而使相同温度变化下传感器的光程差变化量更大,分辨率更高。实验结果表明,在100～650℃,该传感器单位温度变化的光程差变化量约为1.029 nm,温度分辨率约为1.5℃,测量线性度约为0.996 7,且滞回小,重复性好。这种膜结构的全光纤珐珀干涉式高温传感器因其体积小,温度分辨率高,将在多点高温测量领域有好的应用前景。     

Evaluation of moment arm length and fulcrum sensitivity limit in a 10 N·m dead weight torque standard machine

Many torque tools, such as torque wrenches and torque screwdrivers, as well as torque measuring devices (TMDs) with a rated capacity of less than 5 N·m are being widely used in industry. Thus, a small-rated-capacity torque standard has to be established as soon as possible. A 10 N·m dead weight torque standard machine (10 N·m DWTSM) has been under development since 2006 at the National Metrology Institute of Japan (NMIJ), part of the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST). Characteristically, the main parts of the moment arm are made of low thermal-expansion alloy (Super INVAR), and an aerostatic bearing is employed as the fulcrum supporting the moment arm to minimize rotational friction. The moment arm was evaluated with regard to the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE), the lengths measured by a 3D coordinate measurement machine (CMM), and temperature correction realized by measuring the moment arm temperature. The sensitivity limit of the fulcrum in the 10 N·m DWTSM was also estimated. As a result, the apparent overall CTE of the moment arm was 1.06 × 10⁻⁶ K⁻¹, and the expanded uncertainty was 2.24 × 10⁻⁹ K⁻¹ (k = 2). The results of the CMM measurement were a right-hand side length of 510.2773 mm and a left-hand side length of 510.2657 mm, with a relative expanded uncertainty of 4.0 × 10⁻⁵ (k = 2). The moment arm temperature increased by approximately 0.6 K during the ordinary calibration process. The corresponding change in the lengths of the moment arm was estimated to be approximately 0.3 μm, which is considered to be sufficiently small compared with the expanded uncertainty of the lengths of the moment arm. The fulcrum of the 10 N·m DWTSM was found to have sufficient sensitivity under three conditions: without the weight loading components, with the weight loading components, and with loaded weights. In particular, the fulcrum had sufficient sensitivity of at least 0.5 mg when weights of 100 g were loaded on both 5th stages in the weight loading components to generate a radial load equivalent to 1 N·m.     

Interferometric measurement using bimorph actuated staggered mirror (BASM) microsensor

For physical and chemical sensing applications, a bimorph actuated staggered mirror (BASM) microsensor was designed and fabricated by surface micromachining using a transparent quartz substrate. While the conventional cantilever sensors have angular deflection, BASM’s moving mirror performs piston-type pure vertical motion in response to environmental stimuli like temperature change and surface stress change due to molecular adsorption. Since the sensor itself has a fixed or reference mirror as well as a moving mirror, 1) an interferometric measurement is possible without an additional reference mirror in off-axis measurement setup, and 2) vibration measurement noise can be reduced. For preliminary test purposes, interferometric measurement using an optical setup was performed for temperature change. At He-Ne line (632.8 nm), a temperature change of ∼0.8 K caused a minimum-to-maximum interferometric light intensity change which corresponds to ∼144 nm shift of the moving mirror part. An optical diffraction analysis was performed and optimal device parameters were found to maximize the sensor sensitivity.