Department of Micro and Nanotechnology
”Nanomechanical sensors” – What is a nanosensor and how is it different from a conventional sensor
Zachary J. Davis Associate Professor MIC-DTU Where is the nano world? Department of Micro and Nanotechnology What is a nanosensor? Department of Micro and Nanotechnology
• a sensor that has some physical aspect in the nano-scale regime • a sensor that utilizes/detects phenomena exhibited in the nano-scale regime
AFM – atomic force microscope
• AFM cantilevers with tip on the nano-scale (d~10nm) • Utilizes atomic forces that dominate in the nano-scale • Van der Waals • Interatomic repulsion What nanosensors can give us Department of Micro and Nanotechnology
Invaluable tools to understand and to experiment on the nano-scale → New highly improved sensor systems with unique functionalities Cantilever based sensors Department of Micro and Nanotechnology
Change of surface Change of temperature Change of mass stress
Gene/Protein Explosives Gas/particle detection detection detection Static mode sensing Department of Micro and Nanotechnology
• Integrated piezoresistive read-out • resistors are encapsulated which allows operation in liquids • large arrays → multiple recognition, redundancy Silicon devices Department of Micro and Nanotechnology
200 ImmobilisationMogens Havsteen Jakobsen 180 DNA hybridization Hybridisation 160
140
120
100 V µ 80
60 Silicon piezoresistive readout 40 20
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 Time (s)
• Gene detection possible •proteomics • antibody/antigen recognition Polymer Devices - immobilisation Department of Micro and Nanotechnology
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S
Vin Vout
☺ Lower Young’s modulus Low strain gauge ☺ Low electrical noise Alicia Johansson Explosive vapour detection Department of Micro and Nanotechnology
Heated to 860 Co in It is possible to detect a few less than 0.5ms picograms of DNT
• reusable device • no functional layer needed
Anders Nanoparticle detection – dynamic mode Department of Micro and Nanotechnology
FP7 EU project: Søren ’Nanodevice’ Quantative particle detection Department of Micro and Nanotechnology
R~0.9 µm, m~60pg
S. Dohn, APL 86(26) (2005) Conclusions Department of Micro and Nanotechnology
• Nanosensors are not just small sensors, but rather sensors that utilize/detect nanoscale phenomena
• Nano-mechanical sensors have a huge potential for a range of different applications – High sensitivity – Arrays -> multiple detection/redundancy – Low power -> autonomous systems – Batch processing -> low cost