Simulation of Mass Sensor Based on Luminescence of Micro/Nano Electromechanical Resonator

We report a novel mass sensor based on detecting the luminescence from micro/nano electromechanical resonators. Multi-physics simulation has been conducted to elucidate this concept. It is found that the added mass affects both the resonant frequency and oscillating amplitude of the mechanical resonator. However, we mainly use the change of oscillating amplitude to detect the added mass by observing varied optical intensity. For the device simulated, the sensitivity ((Δf/f
₀
)/δm per microgram) is 2% μg
^-1
if using frequency measurement through electronic circuits, while the sensitivity ((ΔI
_L
/I
₀
)/δm per microgram) is 377% μg
^-1
using amplitude measurement through the proposed optical method.