Licensing opportunity
The Department of Condensed Matter Physics and NCCR Materials with Novel Electronic Properties at the University of Geneva, Switzerland, is looking to license its proprietary piezoresistive sensor, which can measure nano-strains in semiconductor-based microsystems such as cantilevers.
The application of mechanical stress to metal conductors or silicon semiconductors induces electrical resistance known as piezoresistance. This effect can be enhanced by nearly two orders of magnitude through the piezopinch effect characterised by a change in charge carrier concentration following the application of stress, as occurs in suspended silicon nanowires.
The versatile, durable and cost-effective piezoresistive sensor is extremely sensitive with good signal to noise ratio, and has characteristically low energy consumption. The inventors say that their piezo-resistive sensors, for which a European patent was filed in 2008, could replace the laser-based detection scheme in atomic force microscopy and be used in biomedical assays as well as nano-balancing.
This energy efficient technology targets a piezoelectric crystals market worth $4.7 million in 2007, and expected to grow by 7.5 per cent a year.
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