Developing A Portable Electrothermal Microcantilever Read-out System

This study explores the application of tipless microcantilever sensors in a portable particle detection system. The system incorporates a multi-instrument test and measurement device, a single-board computer, and a Python-based GUI for circuit communication. The performance of the system is evaluated by examining the resonance shift and analyzing the Q-factor under humidity variations.The experimental results indicate that the system exhibits stable responses under both closed and open system configurations. In open configuration, the cantilever sensor was directly exposed to the humidifier in different concentration levels. In contrary, close configuration lets the vapor particles randomly attached to the cantilever beam in a chamber. Here, the humidity of the chamber was measured using a relative humidity meter. The phase difference during resonance frequency shows a standard deviation of 1.912° for the closed system and 4.30° for the open system. The study confirms that the tipless type microcantilever sensor exhibits a high Q-factor value. In a closed system, the average Q-factor is 248.67, whereas in an open system, it reaches 251,812. The analysis of the Q-factor also indicates remarkable stability with minimal damping.This research provides evidence that utilizing a tipless type microcantilever sensor in a particle detection system yields a stable response and a high Q-factor value. This highlights the sensor’s potential for applications in portable particle detection.