Project description
Unleashing the potential of very tiny oscillating devices
Very, very small changes can be very important when they are big relative to a baseline. For example, if a tall building sways +/- 2 centimetres in an earthquake, it is rather negligible. If it were your laptop moving back and forth on your desk in the same way, it would be quite noticeable. When it comes to very tiny electromechanical sensing devices, their own movement generates 'noise' and diminishes their ability to sense small changes. The EU-funded LeviTech project is developing the capability to levitate the mechanical oscillators integral to these devices' performance, essentially removing the 'push and pull' they experience where they are tethered. Minimising their energy dissipation and thus significantly enhancing their sensitivity could pave the way for increased system miniaturisation and exponential growth in innovation.
Objective
The phrase “no moving parts” is misleading; mechanical oscillators are the beating heart of modern technology. Whether it’s the vibration of quartz crystals setting the pace of computation, or surface acoustic wave devices amplifying signals in smartphones, mechanical oscillators are truly ubiquitous.
Micro-Electromechanical Systems, or MEMS devices, dominate research into mechanical devices with technological applications. Due to their ability to be mass fabricated, they have found applications as sensors in industries ranging from healthcare to VR gaming.
Their sensing performance is ultimately limited by the energy they dissipate during operation, a problem which gets worse with decreasing size. LeviTech proposes a non-obvious and inventive solution: levitation of the mechanical oscillator. By physically untethering from the environment, most energy dissipation pathways are closed, leading to ultra low-dissipation in what we term L-MEMS devices.
To lay the groundwork for technological exploitation, LeviTech outlines a programme of miniaturization of both optical and electrical trapping technologies, to an intermediate state suitable for state-of-the-art sensing, generation of IP, commercial collaboration, and potential prototyping.
LeviTech will deliver immediate technological application via beyond state-of-the-art pressure sensing, using a highly inventive technique whereby non-linear L-MEMS yields zero-dissipation sensing.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringsensors
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringinformation engineeringtelecommunicationsmobile phones
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Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
ERC-POC-LS - ERC Proof of Concept Lump Sum PilotHost institution
WC2R 2LS London
United Kingdom