This paper reports a piezoelectric in-plane resonant actuator for a speckle dissolution device used in a laser-type projector. An optical diffuser is oscillated by this actuator to reduce the coherency of a scanned laser beam. A PZT unimorph actuator combined with a Moonie type displacement amplifier and a resonant structure was used to obtain a large displacement. The L18 design of experiment method was used for the optimal design. Both 1-axis and 2-axis actuators were designed and fabricated. The maximµm displacement as high as 239.5 µm at a resonance frequency of 325.2 Hz was obtained for the 1-axis actuator, and the maximµm displacements of 109.5 µm and 67 µm for both x- and y- direction at resonance frequencies of 621.5 Hz and 288.5 Hz were obtained for the 2-axis actuator (10V). The actuator was also tested with a dummy optical diffuser to evaluate the influence of the additional mass.

In recent years, miniaturization and higher performance have been increasingly required for the electronic devices in the measurement system or electronics. In order to accomplish these goals, sensors and actuators using the MEMS have been widely studied. A flow sensor is one of such MEMS sensors. There are various types of flow sensors such as an electromagnetic type, a float type, an ultrasonic type, an impeller type, or a thermal type. Among them the thermal type has the potential of fulfilling the above requirements and is easy to be produced using the MEMS technology. Based on these backgrounds the micro thermal flow sensor using SOI-MEMS technology has been extensively studied. This paper presents the results of the sensitivity calculation using a simple linear model, FEM simulation of the temperature distribution, the design and measurement results of the prototypes.

The functional granular devices assembled by dielectrophoresis are expected to be using as high performance sensors. For the optimum fabrication of these devices, it is necessary to understand the behavior of nanoparticles in dielectrophoretic assembly. In this study, we evaluated the validity of the present analytical model, and investigated the influence of various setting parameters on particle coagulation. Many particles adhered to the edge of pit due to the formation of strong electric field. The transport and aggregation properties of Au nanoparticles were obtained theoretically and quantitatively. These analytical results qualitatively agreed with our experimental ones.

Temperature and humidity characteristics of a QCM coated with acrylonitrile styrene copolymer (AS) were studied as a CO₂ sensor. Consequently, the following results were obtained. 1) A frequency shift of the QCM is in proportion to CO₂ concentration under the condition of constant temperature. 2) The sensitivity for CO₂ concentration decreases in a linear fashion with a rise in temperature. 3) The frequency shift increases in a parabolic fashion and the sensitivity for humidity increases in a linear fashion with a rise in humidity under the condition of constant temperature. 4) The sensitivity for absolute humidity decreases in a parabolic fashion with a rise in temperature under the condition of constant absolute humidity.

In this study, we tried to detect furfural, which is one of the body odor compounds using anti-furfural monoclonal antibody and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor with indirect competitive method. 5-formyl-2-furancarboxylic acid (FFC), 4-carboxybenzaldehyde, 3-(5-oxooxolan-2-yl) propanoic acid were immobilized on sensor chips modified with a self-assembled monolayer containing oligo (ethylene glycol). As a result, 190 ppb limit of detection for furfural was obtained using SPR sensor with indirect competitive method and the FFC-modified sensor chip.