Electrochemical etching of lightweight nanotips for high quality-factor quartz tuning fork force sensor: atomic force microscopy applications
- Author(s): Danish Hussain 1, 2 ; Jianmin Song 1 ; Hao Zhang 1 ; Xianghe Meng 1 ; Hui Xie 1
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View affiliations
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Affiliations:
1:
State Key Laboratory of Robotics and Systems, Harbin Institute of Technology , Harbin 150080 , People's Republic of China ;
2: Department of Mechatronics Engineering , College of Electrical & Mechanical Engineering, National University of Sciences and Technology , Islamabad 44000 , Pakistan
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Affiliations:
1:
State Key Laboratory of Robotics and Systems, Harbin Institute of Technology , Harbin 150080 , People's Republic of China ;
- Source:
Volume 13, Issue 8,
August
2018,
p.
1136 – 1140
DOI: 10.1049/mnl.2017.0924 , Online ISSN 1750-0443
Commercially available quartz tuning forks (QTFs) can be transformed into self-sensing and actuating force sensors by micro-assembling a sharp tip on the apex of a tine. Mass of the tip is critical in determining the quality (Q)-factor of the sensor, therefore, fabrication of the lightweight nanotips is a precondition for high Q-factor QTF sensors. The work reports fabrication of very lightweight tungsten nanotips with a two-step electrochemical etching technique which can be used to develop high Q-factor QTF force sensor. First, a tungsten wire with protective coating at one end (1–2 mm) is etched with a trapezoidal waveform to form a lengthy (∼2–5 mm) and slender (diameter ∼10–40 μm) micro-needle. In the second step, sharp tip apex is fabricated with a direct current etching. High Q-factor (6600–8000) QTF force sensors have been developed with the fabricated nanotips. Atomic force microscope scanning of nano-grating and a triblock copolymer surface validates the scanning performance of the developed sensors.
Inspec keywords: Q-factor; atomic force microscopy; vibrations; polymer blends; nanotechnology; quartz; nanofabrication; force sensors; etching; tungsten
Other keywords: atomic force microscope scanning; high Q-factor QTF force sensor; lightweight tungsten nanotip fabrication; trapezoidal waveform; actuating force sensors; nanograting; high quality-factor quartz tuning fork force sensor; triblock copolymer surface; two-step electrochemical etching technique; self-sensing; size 2.0 mm to 5.0 mm; atomic force microscopy applications; size 1.0 mm to 2.0 mm
Subjects: Fabrication of MEMS and NEMS devices; Scanning probe microscopy and related techniques; Methods of nanofabrication and processing; Micromechanical and nanomechanical devices and systems; Surface treatment (semiconductor technology); Microsensors and nanosensors; Sensing and detecting devices; Nanometre-scale semiconductor fabrication technology; Measurement of mechanical variables; Electrochemistry and electrophoresis; Mechanical variables measurement
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