What are MEMS/NEMS?

Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) are the integration of mechanical elements, sensors, actuators, and electronics on a common silicon substrate through microfabrication technology.

Micro-sensor

Micro-accelerometer

Micro-mirror

Micro-gear

The term MEMS first started being used in the 1980s. It is used primarily in the United States and is applied to a broad set of technologies with the goal of miniaturizing systems through the integration of functions into small packages. The fabrication technologies used to create MEMS devices is very broad based. The three most used fabrication technologies include Bulk Micro Machining, Surface Micro Machining and LIGA. There are a wide variety of materials and processes which are part of the MEMS industry. The graphic shows some of the variety found in MEMs systems -Micro-pump used to pump small amounts of fluid (all the way down to pico-liters) -Micro-gear this is a SEM (Scanning Electron Micrograph) of a Sandia Gear, each tooth is about 8um or the size of a human red blood cell -Micro-mirror used in telecommunications and also displays, one example here. -Fluid Channel well, if you have a micro pump, you need a fluid channel -Heads Up display the reason this is a MEMs device is because it utilizes micromirrors -This could be used to navigate within a complex machine (aircraft) or building (refinary?) would pop up the proper schematics, blue prints, etc. while you are actually working on a system. (Did anyone read Michael Crichtons Airframe?). Some benefits of Microfabricated Components: Small size Light weight Rugged Low power

MEMS vs. Integrated Circuits (ICs)

One way to look at it:
ICs move and sense electrons MEMS move and sense mass

MEMS act as transducers (sensors) converting a physical property into an electrical property (force to voltage, etc). MEMS can also actuate mechanical devices (switches, mirrors, etc)

MEMS act as transducers (sensors) converting a physical property into an electrical property. MEMS can also actuate mechanical devices (switches, mirrors, etc) ICs can sense electrons and move them about, amplify, attenuate etc. ICs and MEMS can be integrated on one chip if the processes are compatible. What differentiates many MEMS devices and products from ICs is that the processes used to fabricate can be radically different and non-compatible. So MEMS is far more complex than ICs, and hence, these applications need to draw from a large variety of technologies to be successful.
ICs

ICs are based on the transistor a basic unit or building block of ICs. Most ICs are Silicon based, depositing a relatively small set of materials. Equipment tool sets and processes are very similar between different IC fabricators and applications there is a dominant front end technology base.
MEMS

Does not have a basic building block there is no MEMS equivalent of a transistor. Some MEMS are silicon based and use sacrificial surface micromachining (CMOS based) technology. 2

1982 LIGA Process Introduced

In the early 1980s Karlsruhe Nuclear Research Center in Germany developed LIGA LIGA is a German acronym for Xray lithography (X-ray Lithographie), Electroplating (Galvanoformung), and Molding (Abformung) It allows for manufacturing of high aspect ratio microstructures High aspect ratio structures are very skinny and tall LIGA structures have precise dimensions and good surface roughness
Capacitive Comb drive also made using the LIGA process

Microfluidic device made using LIGA process

Transducer is a device or system that converts one form of energy to another force to voltage, voltage to force,

1986 Invention of the AFM

In 1986 IBM developed the atomic force microscope (AFM) The AFM maps the surface of an atomic structure Measures the force acting on the tip of a microscale cantilever It is a very high resolution type of scanning probe microscope with a resolution of fractions of an Angstrom

Transducer is a device or system that converts one form of energy to another force to voltage, voltage to force,

MEMS Applications
Pressure Sensors Auto and Bio applications Ink Jet Print Heads Accelerometers (Inertial Sensors Crash Bags, Navigation, Safety, iPhones) Micromachines Micro Fluidic Pumps Insulin Pump (drug delivery) Spatial Light Modulators (SLMs) MOEM Micro Optical Electro Mechanical Systems DMD Digital Mirror Device Mass Storage Devices Chem Lab on a Chip Cantilever biosensors

The list goes on

MEMS Pressure Sensors

Pressure Sensors
Use piezoresistive silicon sensors The silicon chip flexes as pressure changes The amount the silicon chip flexes determines the output voltage signal. These sensors help improve engine performance including gas mileage.

Silicon piezoresistive pressure sensor technology uses the change in conductivity of semiconductors due to the change in pressure to measure the pressure. The term micromachining started being used in the 1960s and 1970s. Note pressure sensors where considered a niche market in those days. Used primarily in Aerospace industry at the beginning When the automotive industry found that these sensors could help improve engine performance including gas mileage, these systems become more and more useful. Really took off in the 70s when fuel economy starting becoming more important. From the Kulite.com web site: Kulite was founded in 1959 as the first commercial source of bare silicon strain gages. The piezoresistive silicon sensor is the heart of the Kulite Pressure Transducer. It has evolved from the simple bar gage sensor of the past, to a very high-tech, dielectrically isolated, silicon on silicon sensor we are using today. We have recently released the next stage of evolution for the dielectrically isolated, silicon on silicon sensor, which is referred to as the Leadless Sensor. The Leadless Sensor is a revolutionary design that allows the sensor to be used in high vibration, high acceleration and high temperature environments not possible in the past. Kulite is currently working on the development of silicon carbide piezoresistive pressure sensors and diamond piezoresistive pressure sensors

Pressure Sensors
TRW Commercial Gas Engine Sensor - 1985

Top view of the TRW (1985) pressure sensor, the metal components are on top of the silicon membrane. The silicon membrane is stressed when there is a pressure differential.

Top view of the TRW (1985) pressure sensor, the metal components are on top of the silicon membrane and are stressed when there is a pressure differential. Pressure sensors are used to measure intake manifold pressure, atmospheric pressure, vapor pressure in the fuel tank, etc. Though the location is different, and the pressures being measured vary, the operating principles are similar.

Intercardial catheter-tip sensors

These MEMS transducers are used in intercardial catheter-tip sensors for monitoring blood pressure during cardiac catheterization.

0.15 x 0.4 x 0.9 mm

Photo courtesy of Lucas NovaSensor, Fremont, CA.

Disposable Blood Pressure Sensors

Disposable sensors use MEMS transducers to measure changes in blood pressure. Photo courtesy of Motorola, Sensor Products Div., Phoenix, AZ.

These $10 devices connect to a patient's IV line and monitor blood pressure through the IV solution.

http://www.devicelink.com/mem/archive/96/01/003.html Disposable Blood Pressure Sensors The strongest MEMS success story to date is for disposable micromachined blood pressure sensors, which sell 17 million units per year. These $10 devices connect to a patient's IV line and monitor blood pressure through the IV solution. Introduced to the market in 1982, their principal manufacturers are Lucas NovaSensor, EG&G IC Sensors (Milpitas, CA), and Motorola (Phoenix, AZ). Disposable blood pressure sensors replace reusable silicon-beam or quartzcapacitive pressure transducers that can cost as much as $600 and have to be sterilized and recalibrated for reuse. These expensive devices measure blood pressure with a saline-filled tube-and-diaphragm arrangement that has to be connected to an artery with a needle. In the silicon MEMS blood pressure transducer, pressure corresponds to deflection of a micromachined diaphragm. A resistive element, a strain gauge, is ion-implanted on the thin silicon diaphragm. The piezoresistor changes output voltage with variations in pressure. Temperature compensation and calibration can be integrated in one sensor die. The MEMS transducer senses blood pressure through a silicon-based dielectric gel between the sensor and the saline solution. The gel isolates the MEMS sensor and circuit from the saline solution, protecting the electric circuitry from the solution. The gel also protects the patient from currents straying back up the IV line. The gel is a nontoxic, nonallergenic polymer that passes pyrogen testing and meets USP requirements.

EmKay Sisonic Microphone

This microphone is made from Silicon and is only millimeters large. Photo Courtesy of EmKay

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Ink Jet
Ink jet printers are MEMS based 1979 IBM and HP

Thermal InkJet Technology was developed by HP in 1979

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Ink Jet
Ink jet printers are MEMS based 1979 IBM and HP

Thermal InkJet Technology was developed by HP in 1979

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1979 HP Micromachined Inkjet Nozzle

Schematic of an array of inkjet nozzles.

Close-up view of a commercial inkjet printer head illustrating the nozzles.

This printing technique rapidly heats ink, creating tiny bubbles. When the bubbles collapse, the ink squirts through an array of nozzles onto paper and other media. Silicon micromachining technology is used to manufacture the nozzles. The nozzles can be made very small and can be densely packed for high resolution printing.

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The Accelerometer
Analog Devices 1993 Saab was the first automobile company to include MEMS accelerometers to trigger airbags.

These MEMS b ased systems sense rapid deceleration and in the event of a collision send a signal to inflate rapidly an airbag.

First generation inertial sensor TRW Lucas Nova Sensor 1987 Poppy seed is on top to show scale. Combined standard CMOS technology with MEMS fabrication
MEMS-based systems answered the call of government regulated passive restraints in automobiles where these systems sensed rapid deceleration and in the event of a collision sent a signal to inflate rapidly an airbag.

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The Accelerometer
An accelerometer is a sensor for testing the acceleration along a given axis.

The simplest MEMS accelerometer is an inertial mass suspended by springs. Deflection of the mass is converted into an electrical signal.

First generation inertial sensor TRW Lucas Nova Sensor 1987 Poppy seed is on top to show scale. Combined standard CMOS technology with MEMS fabrication
MEMS-based systems answered the call of government regulated passive restraints in automobiles where these systems sensed rapid deceleration and in the event of a collision sent a signal to inflate rapidly an airbag.

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iPhone Nintendo Wii IBM Thinkpad

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmDnuqEOLps&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z24JP5TBnyE

The ThinkPad APS Accelerometer Interface In late 2003, IBM announced a feature called the Active Protection System (APS) in some of its line of ThinkPads. This feature is used to "park" the hard disk head when sudden motion or acceleration (such as being dropped) is detected. A parked head has much less chance of damaging data than if the head is over sectors containing data when impact occurs. The system proved very valuable and other vendors followed suit. In early 2005, Apple announced their Sudden Motion Sensor system as an addition to their PowerBook line.

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MEMSIC's Dual-Axis Thermal Accelerator

The square in the middle of the chip is a resistor that heats up a gas bubble. The next larger squares contain thermal couples that sense the location of the heated bubble as the device is tilted or accelerated. (Image courtesy of MEMSIC, Inc.)
First generation inertial sensor TRW Lucas Nova Sensor 1987 Poppy seed is on top to show scale. Combined standard CMOS technology with MEMS fabrication
MEMS-based systems answered the call of government regulated passive restraints in automobiles where these systems sensed rapid deceleration and in the event of a collision sent a signal to inflate rapidly an airbag.

Analog Devices and Bosch are leaders in automotive inertial sensors. Berkeley is a leader in microsystems research at the University level. Inertial sensors measure a change in velocity (acceleration). The first and most prevalent of these is the crash sensor. A more recent application is in IBMs ThinkPad Laptop.

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MEMS as Machines
MEMS are often referred to as Micro Machines. Tiny devices that move things.

Mirror (popped up) Gear Train. Each gear tooth is 8 microns wide.

look at the complexity of the gears, hinges etc. Now compare that to the mite legs. This very primitive creature is by far more complex than the micro machine it is standing on. Try to estimate the size of various parts in the SEM (Scanning Electron Microscope) image by using the fact that the gear tooth is about 8um (microns) wide.

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Micro Machines
Surface Micromachining takes off in the 1990s. Sandia National Laboratories

This basically consists of alternating layers of structural materials (polycrystalline silicon) and sacrificial layers (Silicon Dioxide). The sacrificial layer is a scaffold and acts as a temporary support and spacing material. The last step of the process is the release step, where the sacrificial layer is removed freeing the structural layers so they can move.

Surface micromachining leverage standard CMOS fabrication process technology (CMOS Complimentary Metal Oxide Semiconductor, a silicon based semiconductor standard process). This basically consists of alternating layers of structural materials (poly crystalline silicon) and sacrificial layers (Silicon Dioxide). The sacrificial layer is a scaffold and acts as a temporary support and spacing material. The last step of the process is the release step, where the sacrificial layer is removed freeing the structural layers so they can move. Surface micromachining started out in Berkeley in the late 80s. DARPA supported the MUMPS program starting in 1992 (Multi User MEMS Projects) at MCNC (Microelectronics Center of North Carolina)

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Micromachines

In this image, the square at the top is a microfluidics device with internal passageways used for a "lab on a chip." The multi-arm device (center) is a fuel injection nozzle. Bottom left is an accelerometer, and bottom right is an inductor used in RF circuits. (Image courtesy of Microfabrica Inc., www.microfabrica.com.)

First generation inertial sensor TRW Lucas Nova Sensor 1987 Poppy seed is on top to show scale. Combined standard CMOS technology with MEMS fabrication
MEMS-based systems answered the call of government regulated passive restraints in automobiles where these systems sensed rapid deceleration and in the event of a collision sent a signal to inflate rapidly an airbag.

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Micromachines
Microfluidics Device

In this image, the square at the top is a microfluidics device with internal passageways used for a "lab on a chip." The multi-arm device (center) is a fuel injection nozzle. Bottom left is an accelerometer, and bottom right is an inductor used in RF circuits. (Image courtesy of Microfabrica Inc., www.microfabrica.com.)

First generation inertial sensor TRW Lucas Nova Sensor 1987 Poppy seed is on top to show scale. Combined standard CMOS technology with MEMS fabrication
MEMS-based systems answered the call of government regulated passive restraints in automobiles where these systems sensed rapid deceleration and in the event of a collision sent a signal to inflate rapidly an airbag.

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Micromachines
Microfluidics Device

Fuel Injection Nozzle

In this image, the square at the top is a microfluidics device with internal passageways used for a "lab on a chip." The multi-arm device (center) is a fuel injection nozzle. Bottom left is an accelerometer, and bottom right is an inductor used in RF circuits. (Image courtesy of Microfabrica Inc., www.microfabrica.com.)

First generation inertial sensor TRW Lucas Nova Sensor 1987 Poppy seed is on top to show scale. Combined standard CMOS technology with MEMS fabrication
MEMS-based systems answered the call of government regulated passive restraints in automobiles where these systems sensed rapid deceleration and in the event of a collision sent a signal to inflate rapidly an airbag.

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Micromachines
Microfluidics Device

Fuel Injection Nozzle

Accelerometer

In this image, the square at the top is a microfluidics device with internal passageways used for a "lab on a chip." The multi-arm device (center) is a fuel injection nozzle. Bottom left is an accelerometer, and bottom right is an inductor used in RF circuits. (Image courtesy of Microfabrica Inc., www.microfabrica.com.)

First generation inertial sensor TRW Lucas Nova Sensor 1987 Poppy seed is on top to show scale. Combined standard CMOS technology with MEMS fabrication
MEMS-based systems answered the call of government regulated passive restraints in automobiles where these systems sensed rapid deceleration and in the event of a collision sent a signal to inflate rapidly an airbag.

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Micromachines
Microfluidics Device

Fuel Injection Nozzle

Accelerometer Inductor

In this image, the square at the top is a microfluidics device with internal passageways used for a "lab on a chip." The multi-arm device (center) is a fuel injection nozzle. Bottom left is an accelerometer, and bottom right is an inductor used in RF circuits. (Image courtesy of Microfabrica Inc., www.microfabrica.com.)

First generation inertial sensor TRW Lucas Nova Sensor 1987 Poppy seed is on top to show scale. Combined standard CMOS technology with MEMS fabrication
MEMS-based systems answered the call of government regulated passive restraints in automobiles where these systems sensed rapid deceleration and in the event of a collision sent a signal to inflate rapidly an airbag.

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MEMS-based Optical Switch

Micro Optical Electro Mechanical Systems (MOEMS)
In 1999 Lucent Technologies developed the first optical network switch

These MEMS optical switches utilize micro mirrors to switch or reflect an optical channel or signal from one location to another.

In 1999 Lucent Technologies developed the first optical network switch Optical switches are optoelectric devices They consist of a light source and a detector that produces a switched output These MEMS optical switches utilize micro mirrors to switch or reflect an optical channel or signal from one location to another There are several different design configurations Growth in this area of technology is still progressing

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Digital Mirror Device (DMD)

A DMD chip has on its surface several hundred thousand microscopic mirrors which correspond to the pixels in the image to be displayed.

Digital Light Projector (DLP)

TI started the development of DMDs in the mid 1980s. In 1996 the first commercial product was released. It is estimated by some that TIs investment was on the order of $1 Billion. Today they command over $400M in revenue/yr projected to grow from $800M to $1.8B between 2005 and 2010. A DMD chip has on its surface several hundred thousand microscopic mirrors arranged in a rectangular array which correspond to the pixels in the image to be displayed. The mirrors can be individually rotated 10-12, to an on or off state. In the on state, light from the projector bulb is reflected into the lens making the pixel appear bright on the screen. In the off state, the light is directed elsewhere (usually onto a heatsink), making the pixel appear dark. The mirrors themselves are made out of aluminum and are around 16 micrometres across. Each one is mounted on a yoke which in turn is connected to two support posts by compliant torsion hinges.

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Digital Mirror Device (DMD)

The mirrors can be individually rotated 10-12, to an on or off state.

TI started the development of DMDs in the mid 1980s. In 1996 the first commercial product was released. It is estimated by some that TIs investment was on the order of $1 Billion. Today they command over $400M in revenue/yr projected to grow from $800M to $1.8B between 2005 and 2010. A DMD chip has on its surface several hundred thousand microscopic mirrors arranged in a rectangular array which correspond to the pixels in the image to be displayed. The mirrors can be individually rotated 10-12, to an on or off state. In the on state, light from the projector bulb is reflected into the lens making the pixel appear bright on the screen. In the off state, the light is directed elsewhere (usually onto a heatsink), making the pixel appear dark. The mirrors themselves are made out of aluminum and are around 16 micrometres across. Each one is mounted on a yoke which in turn is connected to two support posts by compliant torsion hinges.

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How Small are these Mirrors?

Pin Point

Each mirror is about 16m square!

Ant Leg

DMD mirrors complete DLP units have over 2 million mirrors all functioning!
DMD mirrors complete DLP units have over 2 million mirrors all functioning!

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Mass Storage - IBM

It works by making small indentations in a polymer film. Higher density data capability

IBMs Millipede 100 Tera Bit per square inch!

Mass Storage IBM IBMs Millipede 100 Tera Bit per square inch! (1012 bits) This device is due out as a commercial product in 2007. It works by making small indentations in a polymer film. Can read and write Writes divot into polymer by heating tip to 400C Reads by looking at surface with 300C tip (measures resistance change with temp drop) if the tip is in a divot, the tip cools more than if it is not therefore, there is a change in resistivity which is measured by the electronics. Erases by making an offset pit, which causes the nearby pit to pop up and hence erases it.
Principle: Thermomechanical Local Probe Ultimate Density 1nm bit indentation/pitch = 1Tb/in^2 - Terabit Milestone Has been Demonstrated 20x higher than the densest magnetic storage currently available! 2002: 100-200Gb/in^2 with the Millipede 32x32 array (1024) - about ~10-15Gbytes Working Prototype demonstrated June, 2002. Resonant frequency limits the data transmission rate of a single cantilever to a few Mb/s, three orders of magnitude (1000x) slower than magnetic read/write systems. - Many cantilevers faster speeds.

Technological background http://www.physorg.com/news3361.html At the heart of the "millipede" technology is a two-dimensional array of V-shaped silicon cantilevers, each 70 micrometers (thousandths of a millimeter) long. At the end of each cantilever there is apart from the tip a micrometer-sized sensor for reading as well as a heating resistor above the tip, which is needed for writing. The cone shaped tip is just under one micrometer in length and has a radius of a few nanometers at its apex. The cantilever cells are arranged in the form of an array on a 10 mm x 10 mm chip. One of the recent array designs comprises a total of 4,096 (64 x 64) cantilevers. The MEMS elements are etched out of a silicon single crystal using existing technologies. The actual data medium is a thin polymer film coated on a silicon substrate. The tips can independently read, write or erase the bits.

Nobel Laureate Gerd Binnig One of the drivers of Millipede: Since nanometer-scale tip can address individual atoms, we anticipate further improvements far beyond even this fantastic terabit milestone While current storage technologies may be approaching their fundamental limits, this nanomechanical approach is potentially valid for a thousand-fold increase in data storage density.

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Mass Storage - IBM

A two-dimensional array of V-shaped silicon cantilevers, each 70 m long. Writes divot into polymer by heating tip to 400C Reads by looking at surface with 300C tip (measures resistance change with temp drop) if the tip is in a divot, the tip cools more than if it is not therefore, there is a change in resistivity which is measured by the electronics. Erases by making an offset pit, which causes the nearby pit to pop up and hence erases it.

Mass Storage IBM IBMs Millipede 100 Tera Bit per square inch! This device is due out as a commercial product in 2007. It works by making small indentations in a polymer film. Can read and write Writes divot into polymer by heating tip to 400C Reads by looking at surface with 300C tip (measures resistance change with temp drop) if the tip is in a divot, the tip cools more than if it is not therefore, there is a change in resistivity which is measured by the electronics. Erases by making an offset pit, which causes the nearby pit to pop up and hence erases it.
Principle: Thermomechanical Local Probe Ultimate Density 1nm bit indentation/pitch = 1Tb/in^2 - Terabit Milestone Has been Demonstrated 20x higher than the densest magnetic storage currently available! 2002: 100-200Gb/in^2 with the Millipede 32x32 array (1024) - about ~10-15Gbytes Working Prototype demonstrated June, 2002. Resonant frequency limits the data transmission rate of a single cantilever to a few Mb/s, three orders of magnitude (1000x) slower than magnetic read/write systems. - Many cantilevers faster speeds.

Technological background http://www.physorg.com/news3361.html At the heart of the "millipede" technology is a two-dimensional array of V-shaped silicon cantilevers, each 70 micrometers (thousandths of a millimeter) long. At the end of each cantilever there is apart from the tip a micrometer-sized sensor for reading as well as a heating resistor above the tip, which is needed for writing. The cone shaped tip is just under one micrometer in length and has a radius of a few nanometers at its apex. The cantilever cells are arranged in the form of an array on a 10 mm x 10 mm chip. One of the recent array designs comprises a total of 4,096 (64 x 64) cantilevers. The MEMS elements are etched out of a silicon single crystal using existing technologies. The actual data medium is a thin polymer film coated on a silicon substrate. The tips can independently read, write or erase the bits.

Nobel Laureate Gerd Binnig One of the drivers of Millipede: Since nanometer-scale tip can address individual atoms, we anticipate further improvements far beyond even this fantastic terabit milestone While current storage technologies may be approaching their fundamental limits, this nanomechanical approach is potentially valid for a thousand-fold increase in data storage density.

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BioMEMS
The overlap between microbiology and microsystem feature sizes makes integration between the two possible
Nucleus Ribosome

Eukaryotic cells

Bacteria

Viruses

Proteins

100 m

10 m

1 m

0.1 m

0.01 m (10 nm)

0.001 m (1 nm)

Atom

Surface Micromachining Features (MEMS)

Visible Light

Gate of Leading Edge Transistor

Molecules

Bio-base scale.

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Biomedical Applications
Scientists are combining sensors and actuators with emerging biotechnology Applications include drug delivery, DNA arrays, and microfluidics

Smaller size reduces pain and tissue damage now there are much smaller MEMS needle arrays. The plastic needle array is made through a standard MEMS fabrication process to make the molds, micro injection process is used to create the arrays.

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Biomedical Applications
Micromachine needles used to deliver drugs

Procter and Gamble Plastic Needle Array

Smaller size reduces pain and tissue damage now there are much smaller MEMS needle arrays. The plastic needle array is made through a standard MEMS fabrication process to make the molds, micro injection process is used to create the arrays.

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MEMS Cantilevers
Cantilevers are used as Sensors Cantilevers are used as Switches Many MEMS Sensors use the principles of Cantilevers as well as RF Swtiches

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What is a Cantilever?

Cantilevers have a resonant frequency that depends on the length and the mass.
A cantilever is supported at one end (fixed). It has a length, thickness and width (geometry) When a force is applied to the end, it deflects Consider this about a diving board What happens when a little kid bounces on the end of the diving board? What happens when his large dad bounces on the end of the diving board? Which one has a higher resonance frequency?

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MEMS Cantilever sensors

The ends of the cantilevers are coated with a layer of probe molecules. When a target molecule is present, it attaches to the probe molecule, thereby increasing the mass. The resonant frequency goes down. You just detected the presence of a molecule!

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Cantilever Sensors
As mass is added to the cantilever shifts the resonance frequency.

A gold dot, about 50 nanometers in diameter, fused to the end of a cantilevered oscillator about 4 micrometers long. A one-molecule-thick layer of a sulfur-containing chemical deposited on the gold adds a mass of about 6 attograms (10-18 grams) , which is more than enough to measure. Craighead Group/Cornell Univeristy

The next few slides were taken from the Cornell Web site. Many researchers are working on Cantilever based sensors. As mass is added to the cantilever shifts the resonance frequency.

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Resonance Shift

School of Applied and Engineering Physics and the Nanobiotechnology Center, Cornell University

Resonance Shift due to Single Cell

5 x 15um Cantilever with an E. Coli cell bound to antibody layer.

Black is the response before cell attachment, Red is after cell attachment.

http://www.news.cornell.edu/releases/April04/attograms.ws.html

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Resonance Frequency Shift as a Function of Mass

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Detection of Single DNA

Gold dot = 40nm SiN thickness = 90nm

By changing the coating (Nano) one can functionalize the cantilever to detect single strands of DNA. Mass resolution is on the order of under 1 ato gram (10-18grams) http://www.hgc.cornell.edu/Nems%20Folder/Enumeration%20of%20Single%20DNA.html

Enumeration of Single DNA Molecules Bound to a Nanomechanical Oscillator Bojan Ilic Resonant nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) are being actively investigated as sensitive mass detectors for applications such as chemical and biological sensing. We demonstrate that highly uniform arrays of nanomechanical resonators can be used to detect the binding of individual DNA molecules through resonant frequency shifts resulting from the added mass of bound analyte. Localized binding sites created with gold nanodots create a calibrated response with sufficient sensitivity and accuracy to count small numbers of bound molecules. The amount of nonspecifically bound material from solution, a fundamental issue in any ultrasensitive assay, was measured to be less than the mass of one DNA molecule, allowing us to detect a single 1587 bp DNA molecule. The drive toward ultra-sensitive biochemical assays has motivated significant efforts in single molecule detection and identification. Resonant nanomechanical devices [1-3] provide an alternative approach to techniques such as those using fluorescent labels. The mechanical approaches also have the possibility of quantification of the bound molecules, and can be incorporated in array-based systems for multiplexed biochemical analyses. Carbon nanotubes, attractive because of their uniform diameters and small mass have also been considered as biomolecular detectors, but remain difficult to incorporate in device architectures and have not yet been able to quantify specifically bound biomolecules. We have detected the binding of functionalized 1578 base pair long double-stranded deoxyribonucleic acid (dsDNA) molecules to nanomechanical oscillators by measuring the resonant frequency shift due to the added mass of the bound molecules. The binding of a single DNA molecule could readily be detected [4]. The resonant frequency of individual oscillators in an array of resonator devices was measured by thermo-optically driving the individual devices and detecting their motion by optical interference. The number of bound molecules on each device was quantified as proportional to the measured frequency shift with a proportionality constant determined experimentally and verified by modeling of the mechanical response of the system. For the smallest and most sensitive cantilevers the mass sensitivity was 194Hz/attogram. The resonant frequency shift of the oscillators can be measured with high accuracy, having a practical experimental uncertainty of ~10 Hz corresponding to ~0.05ag. The nonspecific binding of material to the oscillator throughout the process, however, limits the quantification of the specifically bound compounds for a particular analytical process. We measured the effects of non-specific binding of material other than the DNA from our solutions and found this to be approximately 0.43 0.23ag for an oscillator of length L=3.5microns, with 0.23ag therefore being the approximate limiting mass resolution resulting from uncontrolled binding to the surface in our particular process. For the smallest (L=3.5micron), most sensitive oscillator this mass uncertainty corresponds to the mass of ~0.26 DNA molecules, enabling us to be able to resolve a single molecule. With the most sensitive devices and dilute DNA concentrations, we have detected a single dsDNA molecule. Figure 1: Micrographs (a & b) showing arrays of cantilevers of varying lengths. (c) SEM of the 90nm thick SiN cantilever with a 40nm circular Au dot.

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