Micro-Optomechanical Sensor With Fluid-Flow-Isolated Cantilever
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing micro-mechanical sensors for bio-sensing are affected by fluid flow, leading to reduced sensing accuracy and difficulty in massive parallelization.
Innovation Solution
A micro-optomechanical sensor with a cavity and optical waveguide is designed to isolate cantilever vibrations from fluid flow, using a silicon-on-insulator wafer and dielectric waveguide to optically transduce mechanical vibrations, enabling parallel sensing of biological interactions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a fluidic channel is integrated into the cantilever structure for bio-sensing, then the sensor can detect mass changes of fluid traversing through the channel, but the vibration of the cantilever is affected by the flow of the fluid through the channel, reducing sensing accuracy
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the fluid flow path from the cantilever structure by introducing a separate micro-channel formed in the substrate beneath the cantilever. This allows the fluid to traverse through the channel without directly contacting or flowing over the cantilever, thereby eliminating fluid flow interference with cantilever vibration while maintaining the bio-sensing capability through mass detection.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary structure - a cavity positioned between the cantilever and the micro-channel - that mediates the interaction between the fluid flow and the cantilever. The cavity allows fluid to pass underneath the cantilever while the cantilever remains suspended above, preventing direct fluid-cantilever contact that would cause vibration interference.
2Measurement precision
If conventional micro-mechanical sensors are used for bio-sensing, then mass changes can be detected, but the sensors are difficult to massively parallelize
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the sensor into modular components: multiple cantilevers are arranged in arrays, each cantilever can be independently patterned and released, and multiple micro-channels can be formed in parallel in the substrate. This modular segmentation enables massive parallelization of bio-sensing operations while maintaining individual mass detection precision for each sensor element.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a universal sensor platform where the same basic structure (cantilever over micro-channel with cavity) can be replicated numerous times across a single substrate. This universal design allows different bio-sensing applications to be implemented using the same fabrication process, facilitating easy parallelization and high-throughput screening.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the cantilever is positioned to interact with fluid sample for sensing, then biological interactions can be detected, but the fluid flow may affect the mechanical vibration of the cantilever
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the fluid flow path from the cantilever's vibration zone by forming the micro-channel in the substrate below the cantilever. This spatial separation allows the cantilever to detect mass changes from biological interactions while the fluid flows through the channel without interfering with the cantilever's mechanical vibration stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent moves the fluid flow path to a different spatial dimension - underneath the cantilever in the substrate plane - rather than having fluid flow across the cantilever surface. This dimensional reorganization allows simultaneous biological interaction detection and vibration stability maintenance by separating the fluid flow domain from the mechanical vibration domain.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enhances sensing accuracy by isolating cantilever vibrations from fluid flow and allows for high-density, parallelized bio-sensing, reducing screening time and cost.
Implementation Method 1
an optical waveguide on the surface being extended to the cantilever, wherein the optical waveguide is configured to couple out a light signal from the cantilever in order to optically transduce a mechanical vibration of the cantilever
Implementation Method 2
the mechanical vibration of the cantilever corresponds to a natural resonance frequency. Alternatively, the mechanical vibration of the cantilever corresponds to a resonance frequency higher or lower than the natural resonance frequency due to an interaction of the at least one biological cell with the coating
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3A~3C
AI summary
A micro-optomechanical sensor (100) is provided. The sensor comprises a surface (101) comprising a cavity (102) and a fluidic channel (103) on the surface (101) connected to the cavity (102), wherein the fluidic channel (103) is configured to transport a fluid sample to the cavity (102). The sensor further comprises a cantilever (105) on the surface (101) being laterally extended inside the cavity (102), wherein at least one side of the cantilever (105) is configured to be in contact with the fluid sample inside the cavity (102). Moreover, the sensor comprises an optical waveguide (106) on the surface (101) being extended to the cantilever (105), wherein the optical waveguide (106) is configured to couple out a light signal from the cantilever (105) in order to optically transduce a mechanical vibration of the cantilever (105).