Microfabricated cantilevers for measurement of subcellular and molecular forces

Mark E. Fauver, Dwayne L. Dunaway, David H. Lilienfeld, Harold G. Craighead, Gerald H. Pollack

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

82 Scopus citations

Abstract

We present two new microfabricated cantilever-beam force transducers. The transducers were fabricated from thin silicon-nitride films, and were used respectively to measure forces generated by two small-muscle preparations: the single myofibril, and the single actin filament in contact with a myosin-coated surface. A simple resonance method was developed to characterize the transducers. Because of the high reproducibility of lever dimensions and the consistency of the modulus of elasticity, few calibration measurements sufficed to characterize the stiffness of all the levers on a single wafer.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)891-898
Number of pages8
JournalIEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering
Volume45
Issue number7
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 1998

Keywords

  • Actin filament
  • Calibration
  • Force transducer
  • Myofibril
  • Nanofabrication

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Biomedical Engineering

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