Microcantilevers as a platform for the detection of hydrogen

Author

Putrino, Gino ; Keating, Adrian ; Martyniuk, Mariusz ; Faraone, Lorenzo ; Dell, John

Author_Institution

Sch. of Electr., Electron. & Comput. Eng., Univ. of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia

fYear

2014

fDate

14-17 Dec. 2014

Firstpage

204

Lastpage

205

Abstract

The nanomechanical movements of microcantilevers are a unique tool for the detection of various chemicals. When a microcantilever is functionalized with a surface which specifically adsorbs the chemical of interest, the resulting surface stress will bend the microcantilever. The measurement of this bending can provide an accurate measure of the concentration of the chemical of interest. Here we consider the use of microcantilevers to detect hydrogen under ambient atmospheric conditions. We find that nanomechanical movements of a palladium/silicon nitride cantilever tip correspond to sub-milliTorr changes in the partial pressure of hydrogen in air.

Keywords

bending; cantilevers; chemical variables measurement; gas sensors; hydrogen; mechanical variables measurement; microsensors; nanosensors; palladium; silicon compounds; H₂; Pd-SiN; ambient atmospheric conditions; bending measurement; cantilever tip; chemical concentration measurement; chemical detection; microcantilever; nanomechanical movements; surface stress; Chemicals; Educational institutions; Hydrogen; Optical sensors; Palladium; Silicon nitride; Hydrogen Sensing; MEMS; Microcantilever Sensors;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Optoelectronic and Microelectronic Materials & Devices (COMMAD), 2014 Conference on

Conference_Location

Perth, WA

Print_ISBN

978-1-4799-6867-1

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/COMMAD.2014.7038690

Filename

7038690