title: In-plane photonic transduction of silicon-on-insulator microcantilevers.
abstract: We demonstrate an in-plane photonic transduction method for microcantilevers, which have been widely investigated for sensor applications. In our approach the microcantilever is etched to form a single mode rib waveguide. Light propagates down the microcantilever and crosses a small gap at the free end of the microcantilever, some of which is captured by an asymmetrical multimode waveguide that terminates in a Y-branch. The Y-branch outputs are used to form a differential signal that is monotonically dependent on microcantilever deflection. The measured differential signal matches simulation when microcantilever rotation is properly accounted for. The measured differential signal sensitivity is 1.4 x 10(-4) nm(-1) and the minimum detectable deflection is 0.35 nm.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA.
authors.forename: Jong Wook
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Noh
authors.forename: Ryan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.forename: Seunghyun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jaime
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cardenas
authors.forename: Gregory P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Nordin
mesh_terms: D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D008904:Miniaturization; D055095:Optics and Photonics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D010783:Photometry / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D017785:Photons; D012031:Refractometry / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D014159:Transducers