Self-excited piezoelectric microcantilever for gas detection

Design, fabrication and results from theoretical and experimental studies on the self-excited piezoelectric microcantilever are presented in this paper. Theoretical studies have been carried out to design the microcantilever and have been extended to harmonic analysis using the finite element technique. Silicon microfabrication has been successfully completed to create microcantilever devices. Experimental studies have been performed to obtain the resonance frequencies. Applied as a mass-sensitive sensor, the microcantilever has a sensitivity of - 0.0024%/ppm and a minimum mass loading of 3.5 x 10(-9) g with the help of a zeolite sensitive layer to freon. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.