1 June 2011

12 midday – 1pm – please note time change

Venue: 70 Symonds St, Level 2, Room 439-201

Host: Dr Richard Clarke

Contact email: rj.clarke@auckland.ac.nz

Speaker
Professor John Sader
Department of Mathematics and Statistics
University of Melbourne, Australia

Abstract
Nanomechanical sensors are often used to measure environmental changes with extreme sensitivity. Controlling the effects of surfaces and fluid dissipation presents significant challenges to achieving the ultimate sensitivity in these devices. Particularly, the fluid-structure interaction of resonating microcantilevers in fluid has been widely studied and is a cornerstone in nanomechanical sensor development. In this talk, I will give an overview of work being undertaken in our group dedicated to exploring the underlying physical processes in these systems. This will include exploration of recent developments that focus on cantilever sensors with embedded microfluidic fluid channels and examination of the effects of surface stress on the resonant properties of cantilever sensors.

[1] M. J. Lachut and J. E. Sader, “Effect of surface stress on the stiffness of cantilever plates”, Physical Review Letters, 99, 206102 (2007).
[2] M. J. Lachut and J. E. Sader, “Effect of surface stress on the stiffness of cantilever plates: Influence of cantilever geometry”, Applied Physics Letters, 95, 193505 (2009).
[3] T. P. Burg, J. E. Sader and S. R. Manalis, “Nonmonotonic energy dissipation in microfluidic resonators”, Physical Review Letters, 102, 228103 (2009).
[4] J. E. Sader, T. P. Burg and S. R. Manalis, “Energy dissipation in microfluidic beam resonators”, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 650, 215-250 (2010).

Biog raphy
John E Sader is Professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Melbourne, Australia. He leads an interdisciplinary theoretical group studying a range of topics including the dynamic response of nanoparticles under femtosecond laser excitation, mechanics of nanoelectromechanical devices, high Reynolds number flow of thin films and rarefied gas dynamics in nanoscale systems. http://www.ampc.ms.unimelb.edu.au/srg