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Mass sensors

Weighing single atoms with a nanotube

Nature Nanotechnology volume 3, pages 525–526 (2008)Cite this article

Researchers have used a vibrating carbon nanotube to set a new record for nanomechanical mass sensing. Could this approach — currently being pursued by three independent groups — lead to a new type of mass spectrometer?

An inertial balance measures the mass of an object by determining the acceleration produced by a known force and relying on Newton's second law of motion: force equals mass times acceleration. Such measurements usually involve determining the frequency at which a mass attached to a spring oscillates — the larger the mass, the lower the frequency. Of course, the spring itself always has some mass, so the addition of a very small amount of extra mass will cause only a negligible frequency change for most balances. Writing on page 533, Kenny Jensen, Kwanpyo Kim and Alex Zettl1 from the University of California, Berkeley report that they have used a carbon nanotube to make the lightest inertial balance ever, and have gone on to make measurements with atomic mass sensitivity. In effect they have made a nanoscale mass spectrometer. Subsequently two other groups — Adrian Bachtold of the CIN2 laboratory in Spain and co-workers2, and Marc Bockrath of Caltech and co-workers3 — have reported similar results.

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Figure 1: Three groups have shown that nanotube mass sensors are capable of atomic resolution.

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  1. Robert G. Knobel is in the Department of Physics, Engineering Physics and Astronomy, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada K7L 3N6. knobel@physics.queensu.ca,

    Robert G. Knobel

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Knobel, R. Weighing single atoms with a nanotube. Nature Nanotech 3, 525–526 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2008.250

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