Influences of surface effects and large deformation on the resonant properties of ultrathin silicon nanocantilevers

The purpose of the present work is to quantify the influences of the discrete nature, the surface effects, and the large deformation on the bending resonant properties of long and ultrathin （100） silicon nanocantilevers. We accomplish this by using an analytical semi-continuum Keating model within the framework of nonlinear, finite deformation kinematics. The semi-continuum model shows that the elastic behaviors of the silicon nanocantilevers are size-dependent and surface- dependent, which agrees well with the molecular dynamics results. It also indicates that the dominant effect on the fundamental resonant frequency shift of the silicon nanocantilever is adsorption-induced surface stress, followed by the discrete nature and surface reconstruction, whereas surface relaxation has the least effect. In particular, it is found that a large deformation tends to increase the nonlinear fundamental frequency of the silicon nanocantilever, depending not only on its size but also on the surface effects. Finally, the resonant frequency shifts due to the adsorption-induced surface stress predicted by the current model are quantitatively compared with those obtained from the experimental measurement and the other existing approach. It is noticed that the length-to-thickness ratio is the key parameter that correlates the deviations in the resonant frequencies predicted from the current model and the empirical formula.

Compact FBG diaphragm accelerometer based on L-shaped rigid cantilever beam

A compact fiber Bragg grating （FBG） diaphragm accelerometer based on L-shaped rigid cantilever beam is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. The sensing system is based on the integration of a flat diaphragm and an L-shaped rigid cantilever beam. The FBG is pre-tensioned and the two side points are fixed, efficiently avoiding the unwanted chirp effect of grating. Dynamic vibration measurement shows that the proposed FBG diaphragm accelerometer provides a wide frequency response range （0-110 Hz） and an extremely high sensitivity （106.5 pm/g）, indentifying it as a good candidate for embedding structural health monitoring and seismic wave measurement.

Temperature-insensitive fiber cantilever vibration sensor based on a fiber-to-fiber structure

A simple optical fiber cantilever vibration sensor consisting of two opposite aligned bare optical fibers sealed in a quartz capillary is presented.The fiber with the longer bare section is suspended in air and acts as a cantilever.By detecting the transmission power of the sensor directly,the environmental vibrational frequencies and amplitudes may be obtained.By adjusting the cantilever＇s natural deflection angle,the sensor can achieve high sensitivity,good response linearity,and a wide dynamic range.Coupling conditions are optimized to minimize temperature effects by simply setting an appropriate air gap between the bare fibers.