Microstructured Cantilever Probe on Optical Fiber Tip for Microforce Sensor

• Published in: Photonic sensors (Berlin) Vol. 14; no. 2; pp. 240204 - 11
• Main Authors: Wang, Famei, Liao, Changrui, Zou, Mengqiang, Liu, Dejun, Huang, Haoqiang, Liu, Chao, Wang, Yiping
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Singapore Springer Nature Singapore 01.02.2024; Springer Nature B.V; SpringerOpen
• Subjects: Biological properties; Controllability; Elastic properties; Finite element method; Lasers; Measurement Science and Instrumentation; Mechanical properties; microforce sensing; microstructured cantilever; Microwaves; Optical Devices; Optical fiber sensor; Optical fibers; Optics; Photonics; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Regular; RF and Optical Engineering; Structural design; Three dimensional printing; two-photon polymerization; microforce sensing; microstructured cantilever; Optical fiber sensor; two-photon polymerization
• ISSN: 1674-9251; 2190-7439
• DOI: 10.1007/s13320-024-0704-6

Benefiting from the great advances of the femtosecond laser two-photon polymerization (TPP) technology, customized microcantilever probes can be accurately 3-dimensional (3D) manufactured at the nanoscale size and thus have exhibited considerable potentials in the fields of microforce, micro-vibration, and microforce sensors. In this work, a controllable microstructured cantilever probe on an optical fiber tip for microforce detection is demonstrated both theoretically and experimentally. The static performances of the probe are firstly investigated based on the finite element method (FEM), which provides the basis for the structural design. The proposed cantilever probe is then 3D printed by means of the TPP technology. The experimental results show that the elastic constant k of the proposed cantilever probe can be actively tuned from 2.46 N/m to 62.35 N/m. The force sensitivity is 2.5 nm/µN, the Q -factor is 368.93, and the detection limit is 57.43 nN. Moreover, the mechanical properties of the cantilever probe can be flexibly adjusted by the geometric configuration of the cantilever. Thus, it has an enormous potential for matching the mechanical properties of biological samples in the direct contact mode.