Development of a Hybrid Nano-Electro-Mechanical Sensor Technology for Nanoscale Aerosol Mass and Momemtumprobing

本提案的目标是开发微/纳米机电（MEMS/NEMS）谐振传感器阵列，使其能够测量单个纳米级气溶胶颗粒的质量和尺寸。这些传感器将在实验室中用单分散气溶胶进行测试，测试条件与为其设计的仪器类似。知识优势：所提出的硅基谐振传感器由于其小尺寸和高质量因素而具有极高的质量敏感性。设备的共振频率随着装载气溶胶颗粒而变化。另一方面，利用弹性结构的挠度来测量粒子撞击共振传感器的动能。结合单个粒子的质量和能量测量，可以确定碰撞速度，从而在速度依赖于尺寸的情况下确定粒子大小。更广泛的影响：该项目预计将导致一个积极和全面的研究计划，推动几个正在开发的微/纳米机电系统本科和研究生水平的课程，并将它们与广泛的实验室实验和演示相结合。它还允许pi积极参与丹佛大学开展的高中推广项目，并雇用和教育一些本科生和研究生（最好是来自代表性不足的少数民族）参与研究活动。

The objective of this proposal is to develop Micro/Nano-Electro-Mechanical (MEMS/NEMS) resonant sensor arrays enabling measurement of mass and size of individual nanoscale aerosol particles. The sensors will be tested in the laboratory with monodisperse aerosol under conditions similar to those what will occur in the instruments for which they are designed. Intellectual Merit: The proposed silicon-based resonant sensors are extremely mass sensitive due to their small size and high quality factors. The resonance frequencies of the devices change as they are loaded with aerosol particles. On the other hand, the deflection of the elastic structures is used to measure the kinetic energy of particles striking the resonant sensors. Combining the mass and energy measurements for individual particles permits the collision velocity to be determined which leads to the determination of particle size in situations where the velocity is size dependent.Broader Impact: This project is expected to lead to an active and comprehensive research program that fuels several under-development undergraduate and graduate level courses on micro/nano-electromechanical systems and combines them with extensive laboratory experiments and demos. It also allows the PIs to actively contribute in high school outreach programs conducted by the University of Denver as well as employ and educate several undergraduate and graduate students (preferably from underrepresented minorities) to participate in the research activities.