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An experimental study on fabricating an inverted mesa-type quartz crystal resonator using a cheap wet etching process
Jinxing Liang1, Jia Huang, Tian Zhang
1Key Laboratory of Micro-Inertial Instrument and Advanced Navigation Technology, Ministry of Education, School of Instrument Science and Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China. j-liang@seu.edu.cn.
Sensors (Basel, Switzerland)
|September 13, 2013
Summary
This study presents a miniaturized quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) for enhanced sensor applications. The novel design achieves high Q values in liquid, enabling effective bio- and chemical sensing.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Electrical Engineering
- Chemical Engineering
Background:
- Miniaturized sensors are crucial for advanced analytical applications.
- Quartz Crystal Microbalances (QCMs) offer high sensitivity but require optimized designs for liquid environments.
- Traditional QCM fabrication can be complex, especially for high-frequency applications.
Purpose of the Study:
- To fabricate a miniaturized high fundamental frequency quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) using wet etching.
- To optimize QCM design for high Q values and reduced vibration area.
- To evaluate the performance of the fabricated QCM in liquid for sensor applications.
Main Methods:
- Fabrication of a miniaturized QCM with an inverted mesa structure using wet etching.
- Utilizing a rectangular vibration area to simplify side wall profiles from anisotropic quartz etching.
- Designing and manufacturing a PMMA-based flow cell for liquid characterization.
- Measuring Q values of the fabricated QCM chips at various frequencies in air and pure water.
Main Results:
- Fabricated QCMs achieved high Q values exceeding 25,000 at 47-84 MHz in air on small chips (4x4 mm2).
- Q values as high as 1,006 at 47 MHz and 747 at 84 MHz were obtained in pure water.
- The miniaturized QCM demonstrated stable performance in a liquid environment via the PMMA flow cell.
Conclusions:
- The developed miniaturized high fundamental frequency QCM exhibits excellent performance characteristics.
- The fabricated QCM chips are suitable for sensitive bio- and chemical sensor applications in liquid media.
- The wet etching technique and rectangular design offer a viable approach for advanced QCM fabrication.
