Abstract

Microcantilevers are used in a wide range of applications including atomic force microscopy systems and biosensing applications. External nanomechanical forces applied on the microcantilevers are measured by monitoring the deflection of the cantilever tip. The detection methods used for monitoring the tip deflection includes optical reflection or piezoresistive sensing. In this work, we demonstrate an easy to fabricate optical waveguide cantilever with a diffraction grating coupler at the tip, using a process compatible with standard microfabrication techniques.

© 2009 IEEE