• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.186-191
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• 2012

In this paper, we present a pH measurement method that uses a microcantilever-array-based biosensor system. It is composed of microcantilever array, liquid cell, micro syringe pump, laser diode array, position sensitive detector, data acquisition device, and data processing software. Four microcantilevers are functionalized with pH-sensitive MHA(mercaptohexadecanoic acid) as a probe, while three microcantilevers are functionalized with HDT(hexadecane thiol) as reference. We prepare PBS(phosphate buffered saline) solutions of different pH and inject them into the liquid cell with a predefined volumetric speed at regular time intervals. The functionalized mircocantilevers in the liquid cell deflect as a self-assembled monolayer on the microcantilever binds with probe molecules in the solution. The difference in deflection between the MHA-covered probe microcantilever and the HDT-covered reference microcantilever was used to compensate for thermal drift. The deflection difference clearly increases with increasing pH in the solution. It was shown that when the pH values of the PBS solutions are high, there were large variations in the deflection of microcantilevers, whereas there were small variations for low pH value. The experimental results show that the microcantilever array functionalized with MHA and HDT can detect pH value with good repeatability.

• Coupled systems mechanics
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.251-262
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• 2015

The current paper aims at investigating the nonlinear dynamical behaviour of an electrically actuated microcantilever. The microcantilever is excited by a combination of AC and DC voltages. The nonlinear equation of motion of the microcantilever is obtained by means of force and moment balances. A high-dimensional Galerkin scheme is then applied to reduce the equation of motion to a discrete model. A numerical technique, based on the pseudo-arclength continuation method, is used to solve the discretized model. The electrostatic deflection of the microcantilever and static pull-in instabilities, due to the DC voltage, are analyzed by plotting the so-called DC voltage-deflection curves. At the simultaneous presence of the DC and AC voltages, the nonlinear dynamical behaviour of the microcantilever is analyzed by plotting frequency-response and force-response curves.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers C
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• v.55 no.1
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• pp.11-15
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• 2006

We propose an optical and an electrical detection methods for detecting various bio-molecules effectively with microcantilevers. The microcantilevers were fabricated employing surface micromachining technique that has attractive advantages in terms of cost efficiency, simplicity and ability of fabricating in array. The fluid cell system for injection of bio-molecular solution is fabricated using polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and a fused silica glass. The microcantilever is deflected with respect to the difference of the surface stress caused by the formation of self-assembled bio-molecules on the gold coated side of the microcantilever. It detected cystamine dihydrochloride and glutaraldehyde molecules and analyzed individual concentrations of the cystamine dihydrochloride solution. We confirm that the deflections of bending-up or bending-down are occurred by the bio-molecule adsorption and microcantilever can be widely used to a ${\mu}-TAS$ and a lab-on-a-chip for a potential detection of various bio-molecules.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.50 no.5
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• pp.392-397
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• 2017

The Young's modulus of a nanoscale titanium (Ti) thin-film was evaluated using a high-speed microcantilever resonating at the megahertz frequency in the present study. A 350 nm thick Ti film was deposited on the surface of a silicon microcantilever, and the morphology of the film was analyzed using the atomic force microscopy. The microcantilever was excited to resonate using an ultrasonic pulser that generates tone burst signals and the resonance frequency shift induced by the deposition of Ti was measured using a Michelson interferometer. The Young's modulus was determined through a modal analysis using the finite element method and the result was validated by the nanoindentation testing, showing good agreement within a relative error of 1.0%. The present study proposes a nanomechanical characterization technique with enhanced accuracy and sensitivity.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.459-464
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• 2008

We present a novel microcantilever device with nano-interdigitated electrodes (nano-IDEs) and DNA selective immobilization on the nano-IDEs for biosensing applications. Using the nano-IDEs and cyclic voltammetric methods, we have achieved selective immobilization of DNA with submicrometer spatial resolution on a freestanding microcantilever. $70{\sim}500\;nm$-wide gold (Au) nano-IDEs are fabricated on a low-stress SiNx microcantilever with dimensions of $100{\sim}600\;{\mu}m$ in length, and $15{\sim}60\;{\mu}m$ in width, with a $0.5\;{\mu}m$ thickness using electron beam lithography and bulk micromachining. Streptavidin is selectively deposited on one side of the nano-IDEs using cyclic voltammetry at a scan rate of 0.1 V/s with a range of $-0.2{\sim}0.7\;V$ during $1{\sim}5$ cycles. The selective deposition of dsDNA is confirmed by fluorescence microscopy after labeling with YOYO-1 dye.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2007.05a
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• pp.379-382
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• 2007

The proper orthogonal decomposition(POD) is used to the modal analysis of microcantilever of dynamic mode atomic force microscopy(AFM). The proper orthogonal modes(POM) are extracted from vibrating signals of microcantilever when it resonates and taps the sample. The POMs resemble the linear normal modes(LNM) of cantilever vibrating at each resonance frequency. Some of POMs in tapping microcantilever show quite different shapes from the POMs of the resonating microcantilever. Also this POMs can be applied to model for the complex nonlinear behavior of the dynamic mode AFM microcantilevers.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.459-466
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• 2005

The scanning laser source (SLS) technique has been proposed recently as an effective way to investigate small surface-breaking defects, By monitoring the amplitude and frequency changes of the ultrasound generated as the SLS scans over a defect, the SLS technique has provided enhanced signal-to-noise performance compared to the traditional pitch-catch or pulse-echo ultrasonic methods, An extension of the SLS approach to map defects in microdevices is proposed by bringing both the generator and the receiver to the near-field scattering region of the defects, To facilitate near-field ultrasound measurement, silicon microcantilever probes are fabricated using microfabrication technique and their acoustical characteristics are investigated, Then, both the laser-generated ultrasonic source and the microcantilever probe are used to monitor near-field scattering by a surface-breaking defect.

• Transactions of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.553-561
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• 2011

A theoretical approach is carried out to predict the quality factors of flexible modes of a microcantilever on a squeeze-film. The frequency response function of an inertially-excited microcantilever beam is derived using an Euler-Bernoulli beam theory. The external force due to squeeze-film phenomenon is developed from the Reynolds equation. Slip boundary conditions are employed at the interfaces between the fluid and the structure to consider the gas rarefaction effect, and pressure boundary condition at both ends of fluid analysis region is enhanced to increase the exactness of predicted quality factors. To the end, an approximate equation is derived for the first bending mode of the microcantilever. Using the approximate equation, the quality factors of the second and third bending modes are calculated and compared with experimental results of previously reported work. The comparison shows the feasibility of the current approach.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2006.05a
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• pp.1391-1395
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• 2006

In non-contact mode atomic force microscopy, the response of a resonating tip is used to measure the nanoscale topography and other properties of a sample surface. However, the tip-surface interactions can affect the tip response and destabilize the non-contact mode control. Especially it is difficult to obtain a good scanned image of high adhesion surfaces such as polymers using conventional hard NCHR tip and non-contact mode control. In this study, experimental investigation is made on the non-contact mode imaging and we report the microcantilever having low stiffness (OMCL) is useful to measure the properties of samples such as elasticity. In addition, we proved that it was adequate to use low stiffness microcantilever to obtain a good scanned image in AFM for the soft and high adhesion sample.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.40-45
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• 2011

Microcantilevers have been actively used in probe-based microscopy and gravimetric sensing for biological or chemical analytes. To integrate actuation or detection schemes in the structure, typical fabrication processes include several photolithographic steps along with conventional MEMS fabrication. In this paper, a simple and straightforward way to fabricate and operate silicon microcantilever mass sensors is presented. The fabricated microcantilever sensors which can be electrostatically actuated require only two photolithographic steps. Resonant characteristics of fabricated microcantilevers are measured with a custom optical-lever and results show size-dependent quality factors. Using a $40\;{\mu}m$ long, $7\;{\mu}m$ wide, and $3\;{\mu}m$ thick cantilever, we achieved subfemtogram mass resolution in a 1 Hz bandwidth.