Effect of thermal variations on the Knudsen forces in the transitional regime

When objects are maintained at different temperatures and separated by distances of the order of the mean free path of the surrounding host gas molecules, gas kinetic forces called Knudsen forces may be involved. The understanding of this effect may result in some improvements in microelectromechanical devices and measurement systems. We present the thermal dependence of these forces in the transitional regime for different gases. In this mode, the Knudsen effect can be significant and, therefore, become a problem in microscale devices. For this study, a silicon microcantilever, mounted close to a substrate, is used and changes in temperature are observed by measuring bending of the microcantilever.