High Frequency Quartz Micro Balances: A Promising Path to Enhanced Sensitivity of Gravimetric Sensors

Abstract

An array of 50 MHz quartz microbalances (QMBs) coated with a dendronized polymer was used to detect small amounts of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the gas phase. The results were compared to those obtained with the commonly used 10 MHz QMBs. The 50 MHz QMBs proved to be a powerful tool for the detection of VOCs in the gas phase; therefore, they represent a promising alternative to the much more delicate surface acoustic wave devices (SAWs).

Airborne Chemical Sensing with Mobile Robots

“…By etching a small circle in the middle of a regular 10 MHz quartz crystal, much higher frequencies of 50 MHz and more can be achieved at the inner circle while the thicker outer ring maintains the mechanical stability. First results of Kreutz et al using an HFF-QMB sensor with a fundamental frequency of 51.84 MHz show an increase in signal intensity by a factor of 11.5 [41], which is lower than the boost expected with the simple standard model by Sauerbrey but nevertheless indicates the potential of this technique.…”

“…Typical QMB sensors use resonance frequencies of 10 MHz [31]. A promising development here concerns the so-called High Frequency Fundamental (HFF) Quartz crystals introduced by Kreutz et al [41]. By etching a small circle in the middle of a regular 10 MHz quartz crystal, much higher frequencies of 50 MHz and more can be achieved at the inner circle while the thicker outer ring maintains the mechanical stability.…”

High Fundamental Frequency (HFF) Monolithic Resonator Arrays for Biosensing Applications: Design, Simulations, Experimental Characterization

“…Monolithic QCMD arrays designs have been presented previously. The initial focus was on gas sensing applications [23]- [25]. Sensing applications in liquids started appearing more recently [24]- [32].…”

Highly Mass-Sensitive Thin Film Plate Acoustic Resonators (FPAR)

“…The principle of using acoustic wave mass sensitive transducers has initially been employed for thickness measurements of thin rigid films using the quartz crystal microbalance (QCM). QCMs have found wide application in chemical gas sensors due to their excellent frequency stability, low noise and high resolution [ 1 , 2 ]. During the past 20 years, micro-acoustic gas sensors utilizing various types of surface acoustic waves (SAW) have demonstrated improved performance [ 3 ].…”