Modified Beam Structures for Improved Resonant Sensing

This paper introduces simple structural designs to improve the sensitivity of micro-beam resonators to axial force. Herein we demonstrate that by modifying the boundary conditions of sensing beams, it is possible to significantly increase the sensitivity of beam resonators that are commonly used in resonant sensors. Devices with different boundary conditions were designed and simulated, and sample devices were fabricated and examined to validate the design principles. Experimental results validate significant improvements in the sensitivity of presented devices up to 100%. The work presents a versatile, zero-cost approach to notably improve the sensitivity of resonant force sensors and will be of interest to developers of various resonant microsensors. The proposed approach is applicable to virtually all manufacturing processes employed to fabricate resonant devices.