Development of novel and sensitive sensors based on microcantilever of atomic force microscope*

Recently, the development of sensors based on microfabricated cantilevers of atomic force microscope (AFM) has attracted considerable attention from the designers of novel physical, chemical, and biological sensors. Many kinds of sensors have been developed talking the advantages of its high-resolution imaging, force measurement and force sensitivity, such as immunosensor and DNA biosensor and the sensors for detection of intermolecular interaction. This paper reviews the progress made in this field and discusses the signal transfer principles by which the design of the sensor is achived. * Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 20135010), the Major State Basic Research Development Program of china (2002CB513100-10), National High-Tech Project (2003AA302250) and Key project of Hunan Province Technology Plan (0399Y1006).