Polymer microcantilevers for thermal sensing

We present a polymer thermal bimorph microcantilever with integrated gold actuator and sensor. Our device reports an enhanced direct thermal response, and 30% increase in sensitivity compared to prior devices using NiChrome sensor. Releasing the cantilever from the substrate enhanced the response by a factor of 200, suggesting this technique to be advantageous over embedded ‘hot wire’ methods for sensing fluid thermal properties.