Piezoelectric crystals, essential in modern electronics, function as precise electromechanical resonators and are used as sensors known as Quartz Crystal Microbalances (QCMs). These sensors detect interactions with surrounding media, altering their resonant characteristics. QCMs are versatile, measuring parameters like mass, viscosity, temperature, and humidity, and are used in various applications, including gas detection and biosensing applications. Measurement techniques for QCMs include impedance analysis, electronic oscillator-based techniques, phase shift measurements, and transient response analysis. Quartz Crystal Microbalance with Dissipation monitoring (QCM-D) stands out for tracking resonance frequency and quality factor simultaneously, providing insights into mass and viscoelastic properties. This paper presents a method for extracting these parameters with high resolution and minimal computational effort, focusing on the dissipation factor, extracted with a novel processing technique starting from the transient signal amplitude. Using a 10 MHz AT-CUT quartz crystal, the method performance is evaluated under different mechanical loads, with signal processing techniques applied in the frequency domain to extract key parameters.
Enhancing QCM-D Sensitivity for Biosensing Applications through Novel Transient Signal Processing
Paciello V.;
2025
Abstract
Piezoelectric crystals, essential in modern electronics, function as precise electromechanical resonators and are used as sensors known as Quartz Crystal Microbalances (QCMs). These sensors detect interactions with surrounding media, altering their resonant characteristics. QCMs are versatile, measuring parameters like mass, viscosity, temperature, and humidity, and are used in various applications, including gas detection and biosensing applications. Measurement techniques for QCMs include impedance analysis, electronic oscillator-based techniques, phase shift measurements, and transient response analysis. Quartz Crystal Microbalance with Dissipation monitoring (QCM-D) stands out for tracking resonance frequency and quality factor simultaneously, providing insights into mass and viscoelastic properties. This paper presents a method for extracting these parameters with high resolution and minimal computational effort, focusing on the dissipation factor, extracted with a novel processing technique starting from the transient signal amplitude. Using a 10 MHz AT-CUT quartz crystal, the method performance is evaluated under different mechanical loads, with signal processing techniques applied in the frequency domain to extract key parameters.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
