A force measurement system based on an electrostatic sensing and actuating technique for calibrating force in a micronewton range with a resolution of nanonewton scale

This paper introduces a force measurement system recently established at the Center for Measurement Standards, Industrial Technology Research Institute for calibrating forces in a micronewton range with a resolution of a few nanonewtons. The force balance consists of a monolithic flexure stage and a specially made capacitor for electrostatic sensing and actuating. The capacitor is formed by three electrodes which can be utilized as a capacitive position sensor and an electrostatic force actuator at the same time. Force balance control is implemented with a digital controller by which the signal of the stage deflection is acquired, filtered and fed back to the electrostatic force driver to bring the flexure stage to the null position. The detailed description of the apparatus including the design of a monolithic flexure stage, principle of capacitive position sensing/electrostatic actuation and the force balance control is given in the paper. Finally, we present the results of electrostatic force calibration and the weighing of a 1 mg wire weight.