LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Quartz: Quartz Crystal Microbalance
built 264 days ago
The Quartz Crystal Microbalance (QCM) is an extremely sensitive mass sensor, capable of measuring mass changes in the nanogram range. QCMs are piezoelectric devices fabricated of a thin plate of quartz with electrodes affixed to each side of the plate.
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Quartz crystals have piezoelectric properties, that is they develop an electric potential upon the application of mechanical stress. An early use of this property of quartz crystals was in phonograph pickups. One of the most common piezoelectric uses of quartz today is as a crystal oscillator. The quartz clock is a familiar device using the mineral. The resonant frequency of a quartz crystal oscillator is changed by mechanically loading it, and this principle is used for very accurate measurements of very small mass changes in the quartz crystal microbalance and in thin-film thickness monitors. Piezoelectric discs are widely used as compact loudspeakers to convert electronic signals into sound energy in mobile phones, alarm clocks and watches, smoke detectors and ultrasonic baths.
Source:
Quartz crystals have piezoelectric properties, that is they generate an electric current upon the application of mechanical stress. An early use of this property of quartz crystals was in phonograph pickups. One of the most common piezoelectric uses of quartz today is as a crystal oscillator. The quartz clock is perhaps the most familiar device using the mineral. The same principle is ... used for very accurate measurements of very small mass changes by means of the quartz crystal microbalance.
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Quartz Crystal Microbalance