Ringdown sensing method

Miniaturization of devices into lab-on-chip designs is a dominating field of current scientific research. While the technology to build these devices is continuing to develop, the practical realization of such devices remain elusive, mainly due to lack of techniques that bridge the macroscopic world to the mechanical motion and/or the electronic signals generated on the micro- or nano-sized scale. Hence, there is an increasing need for sensitive detection techniques that can not only be implemented on such small scale systems but also be integrated with the current CMOS technology. In this regard, a fully electrical microcantilever-based ringdown method will be presented. We show that detection technique can be employed to precisely analyze the composition of gas mixtures. The viscosity and density can be measured simultaneously, which is illustrated for multiple gases yielding viscosities within ± 2% and densities within ± 6% of NIST values.