Researchers from the California Institute of Technology developed a NEM-based cantilever with mechanical resonances up to very high frequencies (VHF). Incorporation of electronic displacement transducers based on piezoresistive thin metal film facilitates unambiguous and efficient nanodevice readout. The functionalization of the device’s surface using a thin polymer coating with high partition coefficient for the targeted species enables NEMS-based cantilevers to provide chemisorption measurements at room temperature with mass resolution at less than one attogram. Further capabilities of NEMS-based cantilevers have been exploited for the applications of sensors, scanning probes, and devices operating at very high frequency (100 MHz).Li, M., Tang, H. X., & Roukes, M. L. (2007). Ultra-sensitive NEMS-based cantilevers for sensing, scanned probe and very high-frequency applications. Nature nanotechnology, 2 (2), 114.
