Frequency response of Quartz Crystal Microbalance under uniaxial force

Abstract

Piezoelectric material produces electric fields due to a change of material dimension as an impact of external force/stress applied. One of the piezoelectric materials that widely used for a sensor is quartz crystals. Cutting crystal at its AT-Cut angle causes this material to have piezoelectric properties. Phenomena that occur on quartz surfaces can be observed and expressed as changes in the resonance frequency of sensors. In this experiment, a continuous uniaxial force from 0 N to 10 N was applied to the surface of the quartz crystal microbalance (QCM). The result shows that the resonance frequency of the QCM depends on the applied force. The resonance frequency increases as the applied force is increased. When the applied force is gradually decreased, the resonance frequency is also decreased and back to its original resonance frequency when there is no applied force. The frequency change of the sensor was linearly depend on the applied uniaxial force to the sensor.