Miniature Cantilever Sensor Detects Pollutants
There’s been a few new sensors over the last few years which use a cantilever design to detect materials. In essence, the cantilever is like a diving board which is vibrating at certain a certain, known frequency. When something binds or gets attached to the end of the cantilever, the change in weight causes a change in the vibration of the cantilever. Best of all, the accuracy and resolution of this method is good enough to identify a molecule by its weight alone!
Technologies like this are a great example of what MEMS technology does for us. We simply take an effect well known on the macro scale, and shrink it down for improved performance, accuracy, and price. This new and upcoming class of sensors is extremely accurate, and through the use of specialized coatings and materials, are also selective in which chemicals they sense.
