Effect of length, width, and mode on the

mass detection sensitivity of piezoelectric

unimorph cantilevers
Cite as: Journal of Applied Physics 91, 1680 (2002); https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1427403
Submitted: 11 July 2001 • Accepted: 22 October 2001 • Published Online: 22 January 2002

Jeong Woo Yi, Wan Y. Shih and Wei-Heng Shih

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Journal of Applied Physics 91, 1680 (2002); https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1427403 91, 1680

© 2002 American Institute of Physics.

JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS VOLUME 91, NUMBER 3 1 FEBRUARY 2002

Effect of length, width, and mode on the mass detection sensitivity

of piezoelectric unimorph cantilevers
Jeong Woo Yi, Wan Y. Shih, and Wei-Heng Shih
Department of Materials Engineering, Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104
共Received 11 July 2001; accepted for publication 22 October 2001兲
We have investigated both experimentally and theoretically the resonance frequency change of a
piezoelectric unimorph cantilever due to the mass loaded at the tip of the cantilever. The
piezoelectric cantilever was composed of a lead zirconate titanate 共PZT兲 layer and a stainless steel
layer. The dependence of the resonance frequency shift, ⌬ f , with respect to a loaded mass, ⌬m, on
the cantilever length, L, width, w, and the resonance modes was examined. For ⌬m much
smaller than the effective mass of the cantilever, we showed that ⌬ f /⌬m increased with an
increasing eigen value, ␯ 2n , and decreasing length, L, and decreasing width, w, as ⌬ f n /⌬m
⫽⫺( ␯ 2n /4␲ )(1/L 3 w)(1/0.236冑12˜␳ ) 冑Ẽ/˜␳ , where Ẽ and ˜␳ are the effective Young’s modulus and
effective density of the unimorph cantilever that depends on the thickness fraction, Young’s modulus
and density of each of the individual layers. Thus, given the same Ẽ and ˜␳ by maintaining the same
layer thickness fractions of the individual layers, ⌬ f /⌬m is increased by a factor of ␣ ⫺4 when a
cantilever is reduced in size by a factor ␣ in proportion in all dimensions. We also showed that the
same scaling relationship can be applied to a strip mass loaded at the tip as well as uniformly
distributed mass on the cantilever surface provided that the uniformly distributed mass does not
form a continuous solid film rigidly bonded to the cantilever surface. © 2002 American Institute
of Physics. 关DOI: 10.1063/1.1427403兴

I. INTRODUCTION
Recently, there has been a growing interest in utilizing
silicon-based microcantilevers1–5 for bio sensing by either
mass or force detection. For biomolecular detection, recep-
tors were coated on the surface of the microcantilevers to
bind target DNA or protein molecules.1–5 The stress gener-
ated at the time of binding or unbinding of the target mol-
ecules to the receptors on the microcantilever surface induces
a temporary deflection of the microcantilever that is detected
by the optical components.1–5 Alternatively, the adsorbed tar-
get molecules can be detected by monitoring the mechanical
resonance frequency of the microcantilever. The adsorption
of target molecules causes a change in the microcantilever’s
mass, which in turn causes a shift in the resonance frequency.
The silicon-based microcantilevers, about 100 ␮m in length,
exhibit high mass-detection sensitivity, ⌬m/⌬ f
⬃10⫺12 g/Hz, 6,7 where ⌬m and ⌬ f , respectively, denote the
mass change and the corresponding resonance frequency
change. Compared to detection by the induced stress that
dissipates in 20 min after binding, detection by the resonance
mechanism is more desirable because the resonance fre-
quency shift due to binding of the biomolecules can still be
detected long after the binding occurs. Piezoelectric cantile-
ver sensors have the advantages of using only electrical
means for sensing avoiding the complex optical detection
equipment in silicon-based cantilever sensors. Recently, we
have demonstrated piezoelectric cantilevers as liquid viscos-
ity and density sensors by monitoring the cantilevers’ reso-
nance frequency shift and peak broadening in a liquid.8
There is a great potential for piezoelectric cantilevers as
mass detectors as well. Despite the great potential, there have
been no systematic studies that examine how the size and
resonance mode affect a cantilever’s mass detection sensitiv-
ity.
In this study, we investigate the effect of a cantilever’s
length, width, and resonance mode on the mass detection
sensitivity of a piezoelectric unimorph cantilever both ex-
perimentally and theoretically. Specifically, we considered a
point mass loaded at the cantilever tip and examine the effect
of the cantilever length, width, and resonance mode on the
resonance frequency shift due to the load. The cantilevers
used were piezoelectric unimorph 关lead zirconate titanate
共PZT兲/stainless steel兴 cantilevers. The advantage of using a
piezoelectric unimorph cantilever is that both actuation and
sensing can be achieved electrically. As we have shown in a
previous study,8 a dual top electrode design, i.e., a sensing
top electrode separated from a driving top electrode allows
the resonance to be detected simply. When an ac voltage is
applied at the driving electrode the converse piezoelectric
effect causes vibrations in the cantilever. At resonance, the
large resonant vibrations give rise to large piezoelectric volt-
ages detectable at the sensing electrode by the direct piezo-
electric effect. Alternatively, the resonance can be detected
using an impedance analyzer where the mechanical reso-
nance gives rise to a peak in the real part of the impedance
and hence the phase angle. In this case, only one top elec-
trode is needed. For the present study, all measurements were
carried out with an impedance analyzer.
II. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE
The PZT/stainless steel unimorph cantilever was com-
posed of a 0.03 cm thick PZT 共APC International Ltd.,

0021-8979/2002/91(3)/1680/7/$19.00 1680 © 2002 American Institute of Physics

J. Appl. Phys., Vol. 91, No. 3, 1 February 2002 Yi, Shih, and Shih 1681

冑
TABLE I. Physical parameters of the cantilever.
␯ 2n 1 Dp
f n⫽ , 共3兲
PZT Stainless steel 2␲ L2 m
Density, ␳ 共Kg/m3兲 7.5⫻103 7.8⫻103 where ␯ 2n is the dimensionless nth-mode eigenvalue.
Young’s modulus, E (N/m2 ) 6.1⫻1010 20⫻1010 Let h⬅h p ⫹h s and denote r p ⬅h p /h and r s ⬅h s /h as the
Thickness, h (mm) 0.3 0.1
thickness fraction of the piezoelectric layer and that of the
stainless steel layer, respectively. With r s and r p , the bend-
ing modulus per unit width of the cantilever becomes
Mackeyville, PA兲 layer and a 0.01 cm thick stainless steel E 2p r 4p ⫹E s2 r s4 ⫹2E p E s r p r s 共 2r 2p ⫹2r s2 ⫹3r p r s 兲
共Shop-Aid Inc. Woburn, MA兲 layer. The PZT layer was D p ⫽h 3 .
12共 E p r p ⫹E s r s 兲
bonded to the stainless steel layer with a conductive epoxy 共4兲
共GC Conductive Epoxy: GC Electronics, Rockford, IL兲
cured at 80 °C. The resonance spectra of the cantilever were Denoting
obtained using an HP4192A impedance analyzer. The PZT/ E 2p r 4p ⫹E s2 r s4 ⫹2E p E s r p r s 共 2r 2p ⫹2r s2 ⫹3r p r s 兲
stainless steel cantilever was rigidly clamped at one end of Ẽ⬅ , 共5兲
共 E p r p ⫹E s r s 兲
the cantilever with an aluminum fixture. Measurements were
carried out with cantilevers of 0.4 cm and 0.2 cm in width. the bending modulus per unit width can be rewritten as
The length of the cantilevers was varied from 1.37 cm to
0.44 cm by changing the clamp position. The Young’s Ẽh 3
D p⫽ . 共6兲
moduli and densities of the PZT and stainless steel layers are 12
listed in Table I. The quantity, Ẽ, can be viewed as the effective Young’s
modulus of the unimorph cantilever that depends only on the
Young’s moduli, E p and E s , and the dimensionless thickness
III. THEORETICAL ANALYSIS
fraction, r p and r s , of the layers. With
Consider a piezoelectric unimorph cantilever of length, ˜␳ ⫽ ␳ p r p ⫹ ␳ s r s , 共7兲
L, and width, w, as schematically shown in Fig. 1. The pi-
ezoelectric layer has a density, ␳ p , Young’s modulus, E p , the mass per unit area, m, of the cantilever can be rewritten
and thickness, h p . The nonpiezoelectric stainless steel layer as
has a density, ␳ s , Young’s modulus, E s , and thickness, h s .
m⫽h˜␳ . 共8兲
The bending modulus per unit width, D p , of the cantilever
depends on the Young’s moduli, E p and E s , and the thick- Clearly, ˜␳ is the effective density of the unimorph cantilever
ness, h p and h s , of the layers and can be written as9 that depends only on the densities, ␳ p and ␳ s , and the di-
mensionless thickness fractions, r p and r s , of the piezoelec-
E 2p h 4p ⫹E s2 h s4 ⫹2E p E s h p h s 共 2h 2p ⫹2h s2 ⫹3h p h s 兲
D p⫽ . tric and nonpiezoelectric layers. Thus, alternatively, the
12共 E p h p ⫹E s h s 兲 bending-mode resonance frequency depicted in Eq. 共3兲 can
共1兲 be expressed as

冑
The mass per unit area of the cantilever is
␯ 2nh Ẽ
m⫽ ␳ p h p ⫹ ␳ s h s . 共2兲 f n⫽ . 共9兲
2 ␲ 冑12 L ˜␳
2

The nth-mode flexural resonance frequency is related to the

bending modulus per unit width, the length, and the mass per
unit area, m, of the cantilever as
Point mass at the tip. To examine the resonance fre-
quency change due to a point mass loaded at the tip of the
cantilever, the flexural resonance frequency depicted in Eq.
共3兲 can be expressed alternatively in terms of the effective
spring constant and effective mass of the cantilever at the
cantilever tip as10

f n⫽
␯ ⬘n 2
2␲
冑 K
Me
, 共10兲

where ␯ 2n ⫽ ␯ ⬘n 2 冑3/0.236, and K and M e are, respectively, the

effective spring constant and effective mass at the tip of the
cantilever. The effective spring constant, K, at the cantilever
tip can be expressed as
3D p w
K⫽ . 共11兲
L3

FIG. 1. A schematic of a piezoelectric PZT/stainless steel unimorph canti- Because the axial velocity varies along the length direction,
lever. the effective mass at the cantilever tip is therefore10
1682 J. Appl. Phys., Vol. 91, No. 3, 1 February 2002 Yi, Shih, and Shih

冕 冕 冉 冊 v共 x 兲
w L 2
M e⫽ dy m dx⫽0.236mwL, 共12兲
0 0 v共 L 兲
where v (x) and v (L) are, respectively, the axial velocity at a
distance x from the clamp, and that at the cantilever tip. Note
that in Eq. 共12兲, the variation of the axial velocity in the
width direction is neglected, which is justifiable as long as
wⰆL. Consider a small mass ⌬m loaded at the tip of the
cantilever as schematically shown in Fig. 1. When the di-
mension of the added mass is much smaller than the length
of the cantilever, the added mass may be approximated as a
point mass located at the cantilever tip, the flexural-mode
resonance frequency thus can be approximated as

f n⬘ ⫽
␯ n⬘ 2
2␲
冑 K
M e ⫹⌬m
. 共13兲
FIG. 2. Phase angle versus frequency of a piezoelectric PZT/stainless steel
For ⌬mⰆM e , the resonance frequency shift, ⌬ f n , due to unimorph cantilever in the frequency range 0–50 kHz. The cantilever was
the added mass, ⌬m, is thus 1.37 cm long and 0.4 cm wide.

1 ⌬m
⌬ f n ⫽ f n ⫺ f n⬘ ⬵ f . 共14兲 nth-mode resonance frequency to the first-mode resonance
2 n Me
frequency, ( f n / f 1 ), was 6.19, 17.28, and 33.56 for n⫽2, 3,
The resonance frequency shift per unit loaded mass is there- and 4, respectively, which were within 2% of the theoretical
fore ratios, 6.267, 17.55, and 34.39 for n⫽2, 3, and 4,
⌬fn 1 fn respectively.11 The Q factor remained about 45 for all four
⬵ modes, indicating that the breadth of the peak increased in
⌬m 2 M e
proportion to the increased resonance frequency. The larger

⫽
1
冉
␯ 2n h
2 2 ␲ 冑12 L 2
冑冊 Ẽ 1
˜␳ 0.236Lwh˜␳
peak widths at higher modes will give rise to larger error
bars when determining the resonance-frequency shift, as we
will show below. Given the cantilever thickness and the

⫽
␯ 2n 1 1
冉
4 ␲ L w 0.236冑12˜␳
3 冑冊Ẽ
˜␳
. 共15兲
Young’s modulus and density profile in the thickness direc-
tion, according to Eq. 共9兲, the bending-mode resonance fre-
quency is expected to increase with a decreasing cantilever
The term in the parentheses involves the dimensionless length as L ⫺2 . In Fig. 3, we plot the first-mode resonance
thickness profiles of the Young’s modulus and density that frequency versus the cantilever length, L. The open squares
depends on the relative layer thickness fractions but not the represent the measured resonance frequencies and the solid
dimensions of the cantilever. Thus, once the effective line the calculated ones obtained using Eq. 共3兲 关which is
Young’s modulus and effective density of the cantilever is equivalent to Eq. 共9兲兴. The measured resonance frequencies
fixed, say, by maintaining the same layer thickness fractions, agreed with the calculated ones, indicating the validity of
⌬ f /⌬m depends only on the length and width of the canti- Eqs. 共3兲 and 共9兲.
lever and eigenvalues as For the mass detection experiments, small pieces of alu-
minum foil were cut and placed at the cantilever tip. The
⌬fn ␯ 2n mass of an aluminum piece was calibrated with a Mettler
⬀ 3 . 共16兲
⌬m L w H542 Balance 共Mettler Instrument Corp., Hightstown, NJ兲 to

IV. RESULTS

Figure 2 shows the phase angle versus frequency of a

PZT/stainless steel unimorph cantilever in the frequency
range 0–50 kHz. The cantilever was 1.37 cm in length and
0.4 cm in width. Note that off resonance, the cantilever was
a capacitor exhibiting a phase angle around ⫺90°. At reso-
nance, the flexural motion gave rise to a peak in the real part
of the impedance, and hence a peak in the phase angle due to
the direct piezoelectric effect. As can be seen from Fig. 2, the
first bending-mode resonance appeared at 1274 Hz, the sec-
ond at 7890 Hz, the third at 22 020 Hz, and the forth at
42 750 Hz. For all four modes, the Q factor remained about
45 where Q⫽ ␦ f n / f n with ␦ f n being the width of the nth- FIG. 3. f 1 versus L p where f 1 is the first flexural mode resonance frequency
mode resonance peak at half the peak height. The ratio of the and L p the length of the cantilever. The solid line is calculated using Eq. 共3兲.
J. Appl. Phys., Vol. 91, No. 3, 1 February 2002
FIG. 4. The first flexural mode resonance spectra of a 1.37 cm long and 0.4
cm wide cantilever with no mass loading 共solid squares兲, with a mass of
0.35 g 共open circles兲, 0.59 g 共pluses兲, and 0.78 g 共crosses兲 at the cantilever
tip.
10⫺5 g accuracy. As an example, the first-mode resonance
frequency spectrum, i.e., phase angle versus frequency, of a
cantilever of L⫽1.37 cm and w⫽0.4 cm without loading
共solid squares兲, loaded with an aluminum foil of 3.5
⫻10⫺4 g 共open circles兲, 5.9⫻10⫺4 g 共pluses兲, and 7.8
⫻10⫺4 g 共crosses兲 at the cantilever tip is shown in Fig. 4.
Clearly, the resonance peak shifted to a lower frequency as
the mass of the aluminum foil is increased. In Fig. 5, we plot
the first-mode resonance frequency shift, ⌬ f , versus the
mass of the loaded aluminum foil, ⌬m, for L⫽1.37 cm
共solid squares兲, 1.05 cm 共open up triangles兲, 0.75 cm 共solid
circles兲, and 0.44 cm 共solid down triangles兲. The width of the
cantilevers was 0.4 cm. Also plotted are the calculated reso-
nance frequency shifts obtained using Eq. 共13兲 as solid lines.
Clearly, for a given ⌬m, the resonance frequency shift, ⌬ f ,
increases with a decreasing cantilever length. The measured
resonance frequency shifts agreed well with the calculated
ones using Eq. 共13兲. For the mode dependence, we show, as
examples, the mode-1 and mode-2 resonance frequency
shifts, ⌬ f , versus the aluminum foil mass, ⌬m in Fig. 6. The
cantilever was 1.03 cm in length and 0.4 cm in width. The
FIG. 5. ⌬ f versus ⌬m of a cantilever 0.4 cm in width and 1.37 cm 共solid
squares兲, 1.05 cm 共open up triangles兲, 0.75 cm 共solid circles兲, and 0.44 cm
共solid down triangles兲 in length. Also plotted are the calculated resonance
frequency shifts predicted by Eq. 共13兲 as solid lines.
Yi, Shih, and Shih 1683
FIG. 6. ⌬ f versus ⌬m of a cantilever 1.03 cm in length and 0.4 cm in width.
The open squares denote ⌬ f obtained from model 1 and solid circles from
mode 2. The solid lines were calculated using Eq. 共13兲.
measured ⌬ f 共open squares for mode 1 and solid circles for
mode 2兲 agreed well with the calculated values 共solid lines兲
predicted by Eq. 共13兲. Although for a given mass change,
mode 2 gave a higher resonance frequency shift, the
resonance-frequency shift obtained from mode 2 had a larger
error bar 共about 8 Hz兲 than that obtained using mode 1 which
had an error bar of about 2 Hz. This was due to the broad-
ening of the resonance peak with an increasing resonance
frequency as discussed in Fig. 2. The increased peak width of
mode 2 gave rise to the increased uncertainty in the peak
position that resulted in the error bars shown in Fig. 6. The
dependence of the resonance frequency shift on the cantile-
ver width is shown in Fig. 7 where ⌬ f is plotted versus the
aluminum foil mass, ⌬m, for w⫽0.4 cm and L⫽1.05 cm
共open squares兲 and w⫽0.2 cm and L⫽0.99 cm 共open
circles兲. Also plotted are the calculated resonance frequency
shifts obtained using Eq. 共13兲. Note that both cantilevers
have similar lengths. That the cantilever with w⫽0.2 cm had
resonance frequency shifts about twice as high as those ob-
tained using the cantilever with w⫽0.4 cm width clearly il-
lustrated the width effect. The mass detection sensitivity,
FIG. 7. ⌬ f versus ⌬m for a cantilever of w⫽0.4 cm and L⫽1.05 cm 共open
squares兲 and w⫽0.2 cm and L⫽0.99 cm 共open circles兲. Also plotted are the
calculated resonance frequency shifts obtained using Eq. 共13兲.
1684 J. Appl. Phys., Vol. 91, No. 3, 1 February 2002 Yi, Shih, and Shih

FIG. 8. ⌬ f /⌬m versus L on a double logarithmic plot for all the modes and
widths examined.

⌬ f /⌬m, can be obtained from the slopes of the curves

shown in Figs. 5–7. A higher ⌬ f /⌬m indicates higher mass
detection sensitivity.
To summarize the effect of cantilever length, width, and
resonance mode on the mass detection sensitivity in Fig. 8,
we plot ⌬ f /⌬m versus L on a double logarithmic plot for all
the modes and widths examined. Note that all the first-mode
resonance frequency shifts on cantilevers with w⫽0.4 cm
共solid squares兲 fall on a straight line with a slope⫽⫺3, indi-
cating that for a fixed cantilever width and resonance mode,
⌬ f ⬀1/L 3 as depicted in Eqs. 共15兲 and 共16兲. Meanwhile, for a
FIG. 9. 共a兲 (⌬ f n /⌬m)( ␯ 21 / ␯ 2n )(w/w 0 ) versus L on a double logarithmic plot
given L, ⌬ f obtained from higher modes 共open triangles and and 共b兲 (⌬ f n /⌬m)( ␯ 21 / ␯ 2n )(w/w 0 ) versus L replotted from 共a兲 to include
open squares兲 on 0.4 cm wide cantilevers and that from the data points from Refs. 6 and 7. The rectangle at the lower right-hand corner
first mode on 0.2 cm wide cantilevers 共open circle兲 are of 共b兲 indicates the range shown in 共a兲.
higher than that obtained from the first mode on a 0.4 cm
wide cantilever, in agreement with Eq. 共15兲. To further com-
pare the experimental results from cantilevers of various uniformly over the entire cantilever surface as depicted in
modes and widths with Eq. 共15兲 or 共16兲, we normalized Fig. 10共b兲, because the axial velocity varies along the length
⌬ f n /⌬m by multiplying it with the ratios ␯ 21 / ␯ 2n and w/w 0 of the cantilever, as similar to Eq. 共12兲, the effective added
where w 0 ⫽0.4 cm. In Fig. 9共a兲, we plot (⌬ f n /⌬m)( ␯ 21 / ␯ 2n ) mass at the cantilever tip can be obtained by

冕 冕 冉 冊
⫻(w/w0) versus L on a double logarithmic scale. Note that all
data points in Fig. 9共a兲 fall on a straight line with a slope
w L ⌬m v共 x 兲 2
⌬m e ⫽ dy dx⫽0.236⌬m. 共17a兲
⫽⫺3, indicating that indeed ⌬ f n /⌬m⬀ ␯ 2n /L 3 w as depicted 0 0 wL v共 L 兲
by Eq. 共16兲. To show that the scaling relationship depicted in Therefore, the expression for ⌬ f n /⌬m is modified by the
Eq. 共16兲 also applies to microcantilevers, we included the fact that ⌬m e is 0.236⌬m and that ⌬ f n /⌬m e
data from Refs. 6 and 7 and replotted (⌬ f n /⌬m)( ␯ 21 / ␯ 2n ) ⫽ 12 ( f n /M e ). Therefore, for ⌬m uniformly distributed over
⫻(w/w 0 ) versus L in Fig. 9共b兲. All data points, including the entire cantilever surface,

冉 冑冊
those from Refs. 6 and 7, fall on a straight line with a
slope⫽⫺3 over 6 decades, indicating the validity of Eqs. ⌬ f n ␯ 2n 1 1 Ẽ
共16兲 down to 100 micron size microcantilevers. ⫽ . 共17b兲
⌬m 4 ␲ L 3 w 冑12˜␳ ˜␳

V. DISCUSSIONS
The theory that we have presented assumes a point mass.
However, the results presented are quite general. If the added
mass ⌬m is distributed on a narrow strip at the tip as de-
picted in Fig. 10共a兲, for wⰆL as we considered in the present
study, the axial velocity does not vary in the width direction,
therefore, Eq. 共15兲 still holds. If the added mass is distributed
Note that Eq. 共17兲 holds as long as the added mass does not
form a solid film rigidly bonded to the cantilever surface. If
the added mass forms a solid film rigidly bonded to the can-
tilever surface, the bending modulus of the cantilever will
also be increased that tends to increase the resonance
frequency9 and Eq. 共17兲 no longer holds. Comparing Eq. 共17兲
to Eq. 共15兲, for a given ⌬m, the ⌬ f for ⌬m distributed over
the entire cantilever surface is reduced to 0.236 times that
J. Appl. Phys., Vol. 91, No. 3, 1 February 2002
FIG. 10. A schematic of a PZT/stainless steel cantilever with 共a兲 a strip ⌬m
at the tip of the cantilever and 共b兲 ⌬m uniformly distributed over the can-
tilever surface.
obtained with ⌬m being a point mass or a narrow strip at the
tip. The reduced effect of an evenly distributed mass on the
resonance frequency shift compared to that of a point or a
strip mass at the cantilever tip is due to the reduced contri-
bution of the uniformly distributed mass to the cantilever
effective mass. However, although the ⌬ f n /⌬m of an evenly
distributed ⌬m is smaller by a factor of 0.236 than that of a
point like or striplike ⌬m at the tip, ⌬ f n /⌬m of an evenly
distributed ⌬m still follows the same scaling relationship
with L, w, and ␯ n as depicted in Eq. 共16兲.
Finally if the size of a cantilever is reduced by a factor of
␣ proportionally in all dimensions as schematically shown in
Fig. 11, the mass sensing sensitivity of the cantilever that has
the reduced dimensions, ␣ L and ␣ w, becomes
⌬f
⌬m
共 ␣ L, ␣ w 兲 ⫽
␯ 2n 1 1
冉
4 ␲ ␣ L w 0.236冑12˜␳
4 3 冑冊 Ẽ
˜␳
. 共18兲
Thus,
⌬f ⌬f
共 ␣ L, ␣ w 兲 ⫽ ␣ ⫺4 共 L,w 兲 . 共19兲
⌬m ⌬m
Equation 共19兲 shows that, as the size of a cantilever is re-
duced by a factor of ␣ proportionally in all dimensions, the
mass sensing sensitivity, ⌬ f /⌬m, is enhanced by a factor of
␣ ⫺4 given the same Ẽ and ˜␳ . Currently, a cantilever of 1 cm
length has a ⌬ f /⌬m⫽3.2⫻105 Hz/g. When the cantilever is
reduced to 10 ␮m in length, ⌬ f /⌬m will approach
1017 Hz/g.
Yi, Shih, and Shih 1685
FIG. 11. A schematic of a cantilever being reduced in size by a factor ␣
proportionally in all dimensions.
For biosensing, the current lower limit of detection
which is on the order of 10⫺12 g/Hz achievable with 100 ␮m
long microcantilevers6,7 will allow the detection of a layer of
protein or DNA molecules on a 100 ␮m⫻20 ␮m cantilever
surface. For cell detection, however, a sensitivity of 4
⫻10⫺7 g/Hz achievable with a 3 mm long cantilever will
allow the detection of a layer of cells on a 3 mm⫻3 mm
cantilever surface.12 A sensitivity of 10⫺17 g/Hz as predicted
with a 10-␮m long cantilever would allow the detection of as
few as 100 protein or DNA molecules.
VI. CONCLUSIONS
We have investigated both experimentally and theoreti-
cally the resonance frequency change of a piezoelectric uni-
morph cantilever due to a pointlike mass loaded at the tip of
the cantilever. The piezoelectric unimorph cantilever was
composed of a PZT layer and a stainless steel layer. The
dependence of the resonance frequency shift per mass
change, ⌬ f /⌬m, on the cantilever length, L, width, w, and
the resonance modes was examined. For ⌬mⰆM e , we
showed that ⌬ f /⌬m increased with an increasing eigen-
value, ␯ 2n , and a decreased length, L, and width, w, as
⌬ f n ␯ 2n 1
⫽
1
冉
⌬m 4 ␲ L w 0.236冑12˜␳
3 冑冊 Ẽ
˜␳
,
where Ẽ and ˜␳ are the effective Young’s modulus and den-
sity that depend only on the Young’s modulus, density and
1686 J. Appl. Phys., Vol. 91, No. 3, 1 February 2002 Yi, Shih, and Shih

1
thickness fraction of the individual layer. Therefore, when a
cantilever is reduced in size by a factor ␣ proportionally in
all dimensions, ⌬ f /⌬m will be increased by a factor of ␣ ⫺4 2
given the same Ẽ and ˜␳ , say, by maintaining the same layer 3
thickness fractions. We also showed that the same scaling
relationship can be applied to a strip mass loaded at the tip as 4
well as uniformly distributed mass on the cantilever surface
5
provided that the uniformly distributed mass does not form a 6
solid film rigidly bonded to the cantilever surface.
7
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
8
This work is supported in part by the Army Research 9
Office Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative
共MURI兲 under Grant No. DAAH04-95-1-0102, the National
10
Aeronautics and Space Administration 共NASA兲 under Grant 11
No. NAG2-1475, and the National Science Foundation under
Grant No. BES-0120321. 12
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