Nonmonotonic Energy Dissipation in Microfluidic Resonators

Thomas P. Burg, John E. Sader, and Scott R. Manalis

Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 228103 – Published 4 June 2009

Abstract

Nanomechanical resonators enable a range of precision measurements in air or vacuum, but strong viscous damping makes applications in liquid challenging. Recent experiments have shown that fluid damping is greatly reduced in fluidic embedded-channel microcantilevers. Here we report the discovery of nonmonotonic energy dissipation due to the fluid in such devices, which leads to the intriguing prospect of enhancing the quality factor upon miniaturization. These observations elucidate the physical mechanisms of energy dissipation in embedded-channel resonators and thus provide the basis for numerous applications in nanoscience and biology.

Received 23 September 2008

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.102.228103

Authors & Affiliations

Thomas P. Burg^1,*, John E. Sader², and Scott R. Manalis^1,3,†

¹Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
²Department of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia
³Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA

^*Present address: Max-Planck-Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, 37077 Goettingen, Germany.
^†scottm@media.mit.edu

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Vol. 102, Iss. 22 — 5 June 2009

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