A method and a device that allow all-electrical high-bandwidth readout of a cantilever deflection

A method and a device that allow all-electrical high-bandwidth readout of a cantilever deflection by means of an integrated interdigitated transducer are described in the patent. They take advantage of the piezoelectricity of the chosen cantilever substrate material to generate and detect surface-acoustic-waves by means of an interdigitated transducer and to determine cantilever deflections. This scheme is compatible with implementations exploiting wireless excitation and readout and in mass sensing applications.