1. Mid-infrared thermomechanical sensitivity of microcantilevers for application to infrared spectroscopy
- Author
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Rohit Bhargava, Beomjin Kwon, Matthew V. Schulmerich, and William P. King
- Subjects
Materials science ,Silicon ,Infrared ,business.industry ,chemistry.chemical_element ,Infrared spectroscopy ,law.invention ,Absorbance ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,Optics ,Silicon nitride ,chemistry ,law ,Spectral resolution ,business ,Spectroscopy ,Monochromator - Abstract
We report the use of bimaterial microcantilever sensors for sensing narrow-band infrared (IR) radiation generated by a monochromator and its application to IR spectroscopy of polymer films. We selected microcantilever sensors of either silicon or silicon nitride and having a thin metal film coating. To assess the IR measurement capability of these cantilevers, the IR sensitivity to noise ratio (SNR), was measured in the mid-IR fingerprint spectral region (5 – 10 µm or 1000 – 2000 cm−1). The measured SNR was in the range of 8 – 90. We further demonstrated the utility of these sensors by using them to collect an IR absorbance spectrum of 1 µm thick polycarbonate film. The characteristic IR peaks for this film could be seen, and compare well with conventional Fourier Transform IR (FT-IR) data. The spectral resolution of the cantilever sensors determined to be in the range 32 – 64 cm−1.
- Published
- 2010