Fabrication and investigation of nano-channeled anodized aluminum oxide (AAO) microcantilever gas/vapour sensors with enhanced sensitivity and modified selectivity
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2021-04-30
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Microcantilevers as one of the most fundamental forms of MEMS devices have found extensive applications in various fields including sensors during the last decade. Simple mechanism, high throughput fabrication, direct and fast conversion of chemical/ biological stimulus to mechanical response in orders of a few nanometers, and high-precision are among the most significant merits of microcantilevers as sensors. As for the material used for designing microcantilever-based sensors, Anodic Aluminum Oxide (AAO) shows promise for its nano-porous nature which leads to increased surface area. This research explores the possibility of increasing the sensitivity of AAO-based microcantilever sensors by transforming the nano-welled porous surface into nano-channels. Effect of channel dimensions on the mechanical characteristics are studied. Despite all the qualities microcantilever offers as a sensor platform, it lacks the inherent selectivity. So, while measuring a certain gas, it may adsorb miscellaneous molecules such as moisture leading to false positive results. In this research, we have attempted to tailor the selectivity of the sensor preventing water molecules by rendering the cantilever surface’s hydrophobic. Furthermore, while most of the previous studies dealt with merely the resonant frequency and quality factor of the microcantilever sensor in a single flow or gas condition, it has been tried to go further and investigate the cantilever’s response in both forms of resonant frequency and quality factor exposed to different flow conditions and find the correlation between the physical and chemical modification made to the cantilevers on their dynamic responses.
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Taghvaie, E. (2021). Fabrication and investigation of nano-channeled anodized aluminum oxide (AAO) microcantilever gas/vapour sensors with enhanced sensitivity and modified selectivity (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.