Nanocantilever signal transduction by electron transfer

Microfabricated cantilever beams promise to bring about a revolution in the field of chemical, physical, and biological sensor development. The resonance frequency of a microfabricated cantilever shifts sensitively because of mass loading from molecular adsorption. The minimum detectable adsorbed mass on a cantilever sensor can be increased by orders of magnitude by changing the dimensions of the device; smaller and thicker cantilevers offer higher resonance frequency and therefore better mass detection sensitivity. Here we describe micromachined silicon cantilevers that are 0.5 to 4 mum in length, fabricated with the use of a focused ion beam (FIB). In addition, we demonstrate a technique for detection of the cantilever resonance frequency that is based on electron transfer.