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Microfabricated teeter-totter resonator

Patent ·
OSTI ID:1175135

A microfabricated teeter-totter resonator comprises a frame, a paddle pivotably anchored to the frame by pivot arms that define an axis of rotation, a current conductor line on a surface of the paddle, means for applying a static magnetic field substantially perpendicular to the rotational axis and in the plane of the paddle, and means for energizing the current conductor line with an alternating current. A Lorentz force is generated by the interaction of the magnetic field with the current flowing in the conductor line, causing the paddle to oscillate about the axis of rotation. The teeter-totter resonator can be fabricated with micromachining techniques with materials used in the integrated circuits manufacturing industry. The microfabricated teeter-totter resonator has many varied applications, both as an actuation device and as a sensor. When used as a chemical sensor, a chemically sensitive coating can be disposed on one or both surfaces of the paddle to enhance the absorption of chemical analytes from a fluid stream. The resulting mass change can be detected as a change in the resonant frequency or phase of the oscillatory motion of the paddle.

Research Organization:
Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
AC04-94AL85000
Assignee:
Sandia Corporation
Patent Number(s):
6,820,469
Application Number:
10/436,597
OSTI ID:
1175135
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (4)

A high sensitivity, wide dynamic range magnetometer designed on a xylophone resonator journal October 1996
Acoustic Wave Microsensor Arrays for Vapor Sensing journal July 2000
Flexural plate wave resonator excited with Lorentz forces journal May 1998
Gas sensing with acoustic devices conference January 1996

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