Development of a read-out circuitry for piezoresistive microcantilever electrical properties measurement

This paper reports on the development of a piezoresistive microcantilever sensor read-out circuitry to detect acceleration, biological or chemical activities. Laser micromachining technique is used in fabricating the piezoresistive microcantilever sensor as well as assisting in the cantilever beam and piezoresistor shape formation. In order to test the sensor performance, a Wheatstone bridge which acts as resistive sensor is integrated with three other resistors and the fabricated sensor. A set of amplifier circuit consisting of INA128 is developed to amplify and extract the electrical signal component of the bridge circuit. The resistance and output voltage characteristic of the Wheatstone bridge is investigated, where the percentages difference between the calculated and measured output voltage is very low and similar to each other. The sensor response to vibration is also studied using an electro-dynamic vibration system. The system is designed specifically to enable the accessibility of a small resistivity change due to outside reaction.