Research on sub-μN micro-force sensor based on PVDF

Abstract

A novel micro-force sensor that can reliably measure force in the range of sub-micro-Newton (μN) and its calibration method are designed in this paper. Reliable and sensitive micro-force sensing and corresponding control method is quite important to improve the efficiency of microassembly. At present, sub-μN micro-force in microassembly is not able to be reliably measured by the existing force sensors. In this paper, the polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) is used to fabricate a highly sensitive force sensor. The relationship model of micro-force and the sensor's output voltage is built up, and corresponding signal processing circuit is designed and realized. Furthermore, the relationship model is calibrated. Experiment results show the sub-μN sensitivity of the sensor. The results also verify the accuracy of the sensor's relationship model, the effectiveness of the signal processing method and calibration method. The micro-force sensor developed in this paper provides a feasible and versatile solution in micro-force sensing and feedback control for micro/nano assembly and manipulation, and will promote the technology of automating the micro/nano assembly and manipulation.