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Direct-write nanoscale printing of nanogranular tunnelling strain sensors for sub-micrometre cantilevers.

ABSTRACT: The sensitivity and detection speed of cantilever-based mechanical sensors increases drastically through size reduction. The need for such increased performance for high-speed nanocharacterization and bio-sensing, drives their sub-micrometre miniaturization in a variety of research fields. However, existing detection methods of the cantilever motion do not scale down easily, prohibiting further increase in the sensitivity and detection speed. Here we report a nanomechanical sensor readout based on electron co-tunnelling through a nanogranular metal. The sensors can be deposited with lateral dimensions down to tens of nm, allowing the readout of nanoscale cantilevers without constraints on their size, geometry or material. By modifying the inter-granular tunnel-coupling strength, the sensors' conductivity can be tuned by up to four orders of magnitude, to optimize their performance. We show that the nanoscale printed sensors are functional on 500?nm wide cantilevers and that their sensitivity is suited even for demanding applications such as atomic force microscopy.

SUBMITTER: Dukic M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5052671 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Direct-write nanoscale printing of nanogranular tunnelling strain sensors for sub-micrometre cantilevers.

Dukic Maja M Winhold Marcel M Schwalb Christian H CH Adams Jonathan D JD Stavrov Vladimir V Huth Michael M Fantner Georg E GE

Nature communications 20160926

The sensitivity and detection speed of cantilever-based mechanical sensors increases drastically through size reduction. The need for such increased performance for high-speed nanocharacterization and bio-sensing, drives their sub-micrometre miniaturization in a variety of research fields. However, existing detection methods of the cantilever motion do not scale down easily, prohibiting further increase in the sensitivity and detection speed. Here we report a nanomechanical sensor readout based ...[more]

PMID: 27666316

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Project description:Nanoscale conductive filaments, usually associated with resistive memory or memristor technology, may also be used for chemical sensing and nanophotonic applications; however, realistic implementation of the technology requires precise knowledge of the conditions that control the formation and dissolution of filaments. Here we describe and characterize an addressable direct-write nanoelectrochemical approach to achieve repeatable formation/dissolution of Ag filaments across a ∼100 nm poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) film containing either Ag+ alone or Ag+ together with 50 nm Ag-nanoparticles acting as bipolar electrodes. Using a conductive AFM tip, formation occurs when the PEO film is subjected to a forward bias, and dissolution occurs under reverse bias. Formation-dissolution kinetics were studied for three film compositions: Ag|PEO-Ag+, Ag|poly(ethylene glycol) monolayer-PEO-Ag+, and Ag|poly(ethylene glycol) monolayer-PEO-Ag+/Ag-nanoparticle. Statistical analysis shows that the distribution of formation times exhibits Gaussian behavior, and the fastest average initial formation time occurs for the Ag|PEO-Ag+ system. In contrast, formation in the presence of Ag nanoparticles likely proceeds by a noncontact bipolar electrochemical mechanism, exhibiting the slowest initial filament formation. Dissolution times are log-normal for all three systems, and repeated reformation of filaments from previously formed structures is characterized by rapid regrowth. The direct-write bipolar electrochemical deposition/dissolution strategy developed here presents an approach to reconfigurable, noncontact in situ wiring of nanoparticle arrays-thereby enabling applications where actively controlled connectivity of nanoparticle arrays is used to manipulate nanoelectronic and nanophotonic behavior. The system further allows for facile manipulation of experimental conditions while simultaneously characterizing surface conditions and filament formation/dissolution kinetics.

Dataset Information

Direct-write nanoscale printing of nanogranular tunnelling strain sensors for sub-micrometre cantilevers.

Publications

Direct-write nanoscale printing of nanogranular tunnelling strain sensors for sub-micrometre cantilevers.

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