Metrology and control of electromagnetically actuated cantilevers using optical beam deflection method

In this paper, we present metrology and control methods and techniques for electromagnetically actuated microcantilevers. The electromagnetically actuated cantilevers belong to the micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS), which can be used in high resolution force and mass change investigations. In the described experiments, silicon cantilevers with an integrated Lorentz current loop were investigated. The electromagnetically actuated cantilevers were characterized using a modified optical beam deflection (OBD) system, whose architecture was optimized in order to increase its resolution. The sensitivity of the OBD system was calibrated using a reference cantilever, whose spring constant was determined through thermomechanical noise analysis registered interferometrically. The optimized and calibrated OBD system was used to observe the resonance and bidirectional static deflection of the electromagnetically deflected cantilevers. After theoretical analysis and further experiments, it was possible to obtain setup sensitivity equal to 5.28 mV/nm.