Acoustic Wave Method for Driving Microelectromechanical Oscillators
- Detailed Technology Description
- This invention is a Micro/Nano-Electro-Mechanical (MEMS/NEMS) oscillator that can be optically, acoustically, or thermally actuated.
- Others
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Patent: 7,358,822;
- *Abstract
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This invention is a Micro/Nano-Electro-Mechanical (MEMS/NEMS) oscillator that can be optically, acoustically, or thermally actuated. Prior small-scale oscillators have been directly driven by sources that are close to, if not directly on, the oscillators themselves. Thus, significant electrical cross-talk existed between the actuation and detection mechanisms, resulting in detection errors. Furthermore, each oscillator device previously required a separate actuator which was usually integrated into the device itself at the expense of reduced mechanical behavior.
The current invention avoids these limitations by employing a localized heat source (e.g. laser beam, heat-producing resistor etc.) as a drive/actuator mechanism. An alternative version of this invention is based on acoustic or optical waves as a drive mechanism to actuate the oscillators. Placing the drive mechanisms (optical, acoustic, or thermal) at a distance away from the oscillator eliminates the above mentioned losses to provide efficient actuation.
Potential Applications
- Chemical/Biological sensor applications, such as measurement of small molecule mass through observance of the change in resonance frequency
Advantages
- Eliminates the need of an integrated actuator within the oscillator itself, allowing it to be as far as 150 micrometers away from the oscillator
- Reduces electrical cross talk between actuation and detection mechanisms
- *Licensing
- Martin Teschlmt439@cornell.edu(607) 254-4454
- Country/Region
- USA
