Using micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) as small antennas

We describe the design, fabrication and characterization of simple micromechanical structures that are capable of sensing static electric time varying electromagnetic fields. Time varying electric field sensing is usually achieved using an electromagnetic antenna and a receiver. However, these antenna-based approaches do not exhibit high sensitivity over a broad frequency (or wavelength) range. An important aspect of the present work is that, in contrast to traditional antennas, the dimensions of these micromechanical oscillators can be much smaller than the wavelength of the electromagnetic wave. We characterized the fabricated micromechanical oscillators by measuring their responses to time varying electric and electromagnetic fields.