Abstract
An electrothermal piezoresistive cantilever (EPC) sensor is a low-cost MEMS resonance sensor that provides self-actuating and self-sensing capabilities. In the platform, which is of MEMS-cantilever shape, the EPC sensor offers several advantages in terms of physical, chemical, and biological sensing, e.g., high sensitivity, low cost, simple procedure, and quick response. However, a crosstalk effect is generated by the coupling of parasitic elements from the actuation part to the sensing part. This study presents a parasitic feedthrough subtraction (PFS) method to mitigate a crosstalk effect in an electrothermal piezoresistive cantilever (EPC) resonance sensor. The PFS method is employed to identify a resonance phase that is, furthermore, deployed to a phase-locked loop (PLL)-based system to track and lock the resonance frequency of the EPC sensor under cigarette smoke exposure. The performance of the EPC sensor is further evaluated and compared to an AFM-microcantilever sensor and a commercial particle counter (DC1100-PRO). The particle mass–concentration measurement result generated from cigarette-smoke puffs shows a good agreement between these three detectors.
Highlights
Resonant sensors are frequency output devices with a vibrating element based on a mechanical resonance frequency that can change/shift as a function of a physical parameter
Regarding the appearance of Fano-shape resonances in the electrothermal piezoresistive cantilever (EPC) sensor, temperature fluctuations (Tac ) are most likely able to raise up a “continuum background” component that can subsequently couple to the WB output signal via the silicon substrate
We further describe the implemen tation of the software phase-locked loop (SPLL) for resonance–frequency tracking in an environmental monitoring sys tem
Summary
Resonant sensors (resonators) are frequency output devices with a vibrating element based on a mechanical resonance frequency that can change/shift as a function of a physical parameter. With a relatively stable distribution of sizes ranging from 0.1 to 1.0 μm (peaked between 0.2 and 0.25 μm) [18,19], cigarette smoke particles can be considered as a model for air pollution, which refers to a fine fraction with a size of up to 2.5 μm (PM 2.5). For comparison, this measurement was accompanied by simultaneous exposure monitoring using an AFM (atomic force spectroscopy) microcantilever sensor and a commercial particle counter (DC1100-PRO, Dylos Corporation, Riverside, CA, USA)
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