Nanomechanical cantilever sensors have been emerging as a key device for real-time and label-free detection of various analytes ranging from gaseous to biological molecules. The major sensing principle is based on the analyte-induced surface stress, which makes a cantilever bend. In this letter, we present a membrane-type surface stress sensor (MSS), which is based on the piezoresistive read-out integrated in the sensor chip. The MSS is not a simple "cantilever," rather it consists of an "adsorbate membrane" suspended by four piezoresistive "sensing beams," composing a full Wheatstone bridge. The whole analyte-induced isotropic surface stress on the membrane is efficiently transduced to the piezoresistive beams as an amplified uniaxial stress. Evaluation of a prototype MSS used in the present experiments demonstrates a high sensitivity which is comparable with that of optical methods and a factor of more than 20 higher than that obtained with a standard piezoresistive cantilever. The finite element analyses indicate that changing dimensions of the membrane and beams can substantially increase the sensitivity further. Given the various conveniences and advantages of the integrated piezoresistive read-out, this platform is expected to open a new era of surface stress-based sensing.

We present a new generation of piezoresistive nanomechanical Membrane-type Surface stress Sensor(MSS) chips, which consist of a two dimensional array of MSS on a single chip. The implementation of several optimization techniques in the design and microfabrication improved the piezoresistive sensitivity by 3∼4 times compared to the first generation MSS chip, resulting in a sensitivity about ∼100 times better than a standard cantilever-type sensor and a few times better than optical read-out methods in terms of experimental signal-to-noise ratio. Since the integrated piezoresistive read-out of the MSS can meet practical requirements, such as compactness and not requiring bulky and expensive peripheral devices, the MSS is a promising transducer for nanomechanical sensing in the rapidly growing application fields in medicine, biology, security, and the environment. Specifically, its system compactness due to the integrated piezoresistive sensing makes the MSS concept attractive for the instruments used in mobile applications. In addition, the MSS can operate in opaque liquids, such as blood, where optical read-out techniques cannot be applied.

Four different conductive supports are analysed regarding their suitability for combined atomic force and scanning electrochemical microscopy (AFM-SECM) on biological membranes. Highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG), MoS(2), template stripped gold, and template stripped platinum are compared as supports for high resolution imaging of reconstituted membrane proteins or native membranes, and as electrodes for transferring electrons from or to a redox molecule. We demonstrate that high resolution topographs of the bacterial outer membrane protein F can be recorded by contact mode AFM on all four supports. Electrochemical feedback experiments with conductive cantilevers that feature nanometre-scale electrodes showed fast re-oxidation of the redox couple Ru(NH(3))(6)(3+/2+) with the two metal supports after prolonged immersion in electrolyte. In contrast, the re-oxidation rates decayed quickly to unpractical levels with HOPG or MoS(2) under physiological conditions. On HOPG we observed heterogeneity in the re-oxidation rate of the redox molecules with higher feedback currents at step edges. The latter results demonstrate the capability of conductive cantilevers with small electrodes to measure minor variations in an SECM signal and to relate them to nanometre-scale features in a simultaneously recorded AFM topography. Rapid decay of re-oxidation rate and surface heterogeneity make HOPG or MoS(2) less attractive for combined AFM-SECM experiments on biological membranes than template stripped gold or platinum supports.

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This paper presents a polysilicon slider and a rotor capable of stepwise motion. These devices were fabricated on a silicon wafer with surface micromachine technology. The proportional relation between the velocity of motion and the frequency of the applied pulse was experimentally confirmed. The peak value of the applied pulse determines the step length. The step values observed were in the range of 10-30 nm for a bushing height of 1.0 pm and of 40-80 nm for a bushing height of 2.0 pm depending on the peak voltage of the applied pulse.