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Innovative Company

Innovative Company

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February 22nd 2021: AWSensors was registered as an innovative company by the Spanish Government on March 26th 2020.

This acknowledgement was granted to AWSensors because it is a company which is developing new products to be introduced in the market and it is improving the existent ones in the QCM market.

The applications were AWSensors technology is being applied are listed in our Application webpage. Visit our Technology webpage to learn more about how AWSensors technology works.

 

Innovation

 

 

 

Love-SAW sensors Technology Note

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February 15th 2021: AWSensors is pleased to invite you to take a look to the its new Technology Note on Love-SAW sensors “AWSensors Love-SAW sensors“.

Summary of the Note

Advanced Wave Sensors (AWSensors) develops and markets various types of sensors: classical QCM, High Fundamental Frequency QCM, and Love-Surface Acoustic Wave (Love-SAW). Love-SAW sensors do not measure love, but they do measure other interesting properties of interfacial layers. This Note is dedicated to explaining the basics of the operation of these less known acoustic sensors.

 

Love-SAW sensor

Introduction to Love-SAW sensors

Love waves are shear horizontally (SH) polarized surface acoustic waves. They are named after Augustus Edward Hough Love, who predicted them mathematically in 1911, and appear in fields as distinct as seismology and sensing [1].

Figure 1. a) Piezoelectric material, such as quartz, cut at a certain angle relative to the crystallographic axis, is used as a substrate in the construction of the Love-SAW sensors which basic structure is shown in b) (Taken from [2]).

Love-SAW sensors use a piezoelectric substrate (like quartz), in which the surface acoustic waves are excited by applying electrical current in a specific direction relative the crystallographic orientation of the piezoelectric material (see Figure 1a). The waves are then confined into the guiding layer overlaying the piezoelectric substrate. The structure of such a sensor is shown in Figure 1b where the current is applied through the so-called interdigitated transducers (IDTs), located between the substrate and the guiding layer. A standing Love wave is generated in the space between the IDTs (D in Figure 2), defining the sensing area. The condition for the existence of these waves is that the shear velocity in the guiding layer is less than that in the substrate. It is this difference in the mechanical properties between the guiding layer and the substrate that slows down the wave propagation velocity and traps the acoustic energy in the guiding layer keeping the wave energy near the surface. The sensitivity of this device is determined by the degree of wave confinement in the guiding layer. Thus, the higher the confinement of the wave in the guiding layer, the higher the sensitivity of the device is.

Love-SAW sensors typically operate at frequencies of hundreds of MHz. The operating frequency of a Love-SAW sensor is defined by the materials of its structure, the periodicity of the IDTs, λ in Figure 2, and the guiding layer thickness, d [2].

Key advantages of Love-SAW devices include efficient operation in liquids, mechanical stability (robustness), and high sensitivity (due to the high operating frequency by only changing the IDTs periodicity). Key limitations include a need for calibration due to the lack of simple, predictive model describing SAW wave propagation akin to the Sauerbrey relationship in QCMD or Lorentz-Lorenz and de Feijter’s relationships in ellipsometry. [3–5]

Continue reading by downloading the full Application Note (below) …

Download Full Application Note

You can download the full Love-SAW Technology Note in pdf file from this link or download it from our Thecnology Web Page where you can find this and the rest of our Technology Notes.

Other references about Love-SAW sensors

 

EXPORNET-IVACE

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January 31st 2021:

AWSensors was granted with the EXPORNET aid, managed by IVACE, Generalitat Valenciana, Spain, for the improvement of its Digital Marketing.

Advanced Waves Sensors S.L. (AWSensors) ha sido beneficiaria del Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) dentro del Program Operativo FEDER de la Comunitat Valenciana 2014-2020  cuyo objetivo es mejorar la competitividad de las PYMES valencianas. El programa de asesoramiento en materia de internacionalización del Cheque Tutorías Inernacionalización para el ejercicio 2021, gestionado por el IVACE, en el que participará AWSensors este año es el de Marketing Digital Internacional (EXPORNET). El programa EXPORNET consiste en un asesoramiento especializado en posicionamiento internacional, a través
del uso de Internet como herramienta comercial de ámbito internacional, mediante el diseño de un plan de marketing digital.

 

 

X4-instrument

X4 Launching

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January 19th 2021: X4 launching

AWSensors is pleased to announce the launching of its new Advanced Multichannel QCMD system, the X4 Instrument, which allows the users to boost their productivity.

X4 Instrument

Visit X4 launching Landing-page

Learn more about this new instrument in its landing page.

Battery electrodes EQCM study

EQCM Application Note

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November 27th 2020: AWSensors is pleased to invite you to take a look to the its new electrochemical QCM (EQCM) Application Note on battery electrodes entitled “In-Situ Study of Composite LiFeP04 Electrodes for Battery Applications“.

Summary of the Note

Use of AWSensors X1 instrument in combination with a compatible potentiostat to perform an electrochemical study of various processes accompanying Li-ion intercalation into battery and supercapacitor electrodes onto the gold surface of 5 MHz QCM sensors.

Battery electrodes EQCM study

 

Introduction

SeLiFePO4 (LFP) electrode is widely used in Lithium Ion Batteries (LIB) as a practical cathode. It is considered as one of the safest, toughest and most cost-effective cathodes for lithium batteries available today. It possesses a stable electrochemical response, expressed by sharp intercalation and deintercalation peaks during voltammetric cycling. The relatively low working potentials of the LFP provide an electrochemically stable potential window in which only Li insertion/extraction processes take place without the contribution of parasitic processes associated with high operation potentials.

Continue reading by downloading the full Application Note (below) …

Download Full Application Note

You can download the full EQCM Application Note in pdf file from this link or download it from our Applications Web Page where you can find this and the rest of our Application and Technology Notes.

Intertationalization of AWSensors

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25 de noviembre del 2020/ November 25th 2020

 

Advanced Waves Sensors S.L. (AWSensors) ha sido beneficiaria del Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional cuyo objetivo es mejorar la competitividad de las Pymes y gracias al cual ha puesto en marcha un Plan de Internacionalización con el objetivo de mejorar su posicionamiento competitivo en el exterior durante el año 2020. Para ello ha contado con el apoyo del Programa XPANDE DIGITAL de la Cámara de Comercio de Valencia.

 

 

QCMD in Lipid Research

QCMD in Lipid Research Tech Note

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October 15th 2020: AWSensors is pleased to invite you to take a look to its Technology Note entitled “QCMD in Lipid Research”.

Summary of the Note

QCMD is a label-free surface-analytical technique based on a quartz resonator excited to oscillate at its resonance frequency on one or more overtones. Resonators can have various coatings: gold (Au), silica (SiO2), titania (TiO2), etc. It works in aqueous media or organic solvents and is therefore widely used for studying solid/liquid interfaces. At each overtone, QCMD measures changes in the resonance frequency and energy dissipation due to the processes occurring at the resonator surface. Examples of such processes include formation of a film or changes in the geometrical or physical properties of the film.

The key feature that makes QCMD useful in lipid research is its ability to distinguish between different geometries and topologies of lipidic assemblies at interfaces, for example, homogenous solid-supported bilayers or monolayers vs. adsorbed liposomes or other structures (such as cubosomes) without relying on fluorescent or deuterated labels but by relying on the combination of the frequency and dissipation.

QCMD in Lipid Research

Introduction

Lipid-related QCMD work can be grouped into several topics, with a total of more than a thousand publications:
• Studies focusing on the interactions between lipids and surfaces.
• Studies focusing on the properties of the lipids, such as their phase behavior, adsorbed liposome deformation, etc.
• Studies examining interactions between lipids and membrane-binding proteins, peptides or viruses. Particularly interesting is that QCMD offers a way to study clustering of membrane-bound proteins.
• Studies focusing on the interactions of lipids with polymers or with nanoparticles.

 

Continue reading by downloading the full Technology Note (below) …

Download Full Technology Note

You can download the full Note in pdf file from this link or download it from our Applications Web Page where you can find this and the rest of our Application and Technology Notes.

Tracking Recovery

Tracking Recovery Technology Note

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September 15th 2020: AWSensors is pleased to invite you to take a look to its new Technology Note entitled “Tracking Recovery Technology Note”.

Summary of the Note

Use of the AWSensors X1 Instrument Tracking Recover feature to monitor overtones frequency and dissipation shifts of air-to-liquid medium exchanges onto 5 MHz QCM sensors.

Tracking Recovery

Introduction

The Tracking Recovery feature included in AWSensors X1 platform allows the user to monitor large and fast frequency shifts in QCM (Quartz Crystal Microbalance) admittance spectrum. These sudden modifications in the sensor response are common is some applications where dramatical changes in the viscoelastic properties of the sensor surrounding medium take place.

This technical note illustrates the utility of tracking recovery feature to characterize an air-to-liquid medium exchange. According to Kanazawa and Gordon theory predictions [1], a complex frequency shift is expected in the sensor electromechanical response when the semi-infinite medium placed over the QCM’s top electrode is replaced by other semi-infinite medium. This shift will depend on the viscosity and density properties of the final medium. Following, Kanazawa-Gordon equation is presented for both the frequency (Eq. 1) and the half-bandwidth (Eq. 2) shifts.

Continue reading by downloading the full Technology Note (below) …

Download Full Technology Note

You can download the full Note in pdf file from this link or download it from our Technology Web Page where you can find this and the rest of our Application and Technology Notes.

Biosensor

Biosensor Application Note

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July 3rd 2020: AWSensors is pleased to invite you to take a look to the Biosensor Application Note entitled “Acoustic Biosensor“.

Summary of the Note

An immunosensor application for determination of carbaryl pesticide was developed by using AWS A20 research platform and AWS F20 Fluidic System. Carbaryl was chosen as the model analyte. Two kinds of acoustic sensors were employed: AWS HFF-QCM sensors (50 MHz and 100 MHz) and Love-SAW sensors with appropriate cells. The AWS A20 platform allowed monitoring phase-shift changes at constant frequency as a function of the sensor surface mass changes.

Biosensor

Introduction

Sensor functionalization: Carbaryl hapten conjugate was covalently immobilized by means of Self Assembled Monolayer (SAM).

Immunoassay format: The chosen competitive immunoassay was a binding-inhibition test based on conjugate-coated format. Carbaryl analyte competes against the immobilized hapten-conjugate for Monoclonal Antibodies.

Carbaryl detection: Samples were injected onto the sensors’ surfaces. AWS software allowed controlling sample injection and fluidics. Furthermore, the employed platform allowed performing the measurements at a constant temperature of 25°C ± 0.05°C.

Since analyte inhibits antibody binding to its respective immobilized conjugates, increasing concentrations of analyte are detected by a change in the increment of the phase-shift of the sensor. The following figures present a representative assay cycle selected from a continuous monitoring in a carbaryl determination, for 100 MHz HFF QCM and 120MHz Love Wave Sensors.

Continue reading by downloading the full Application Note (below) …

Download Full Application Note

You can download the full Application Note in pdf file from this link or download it from our Applications Web Page where you can find this and the rest of our Application and Technology Notes.

QCMD

QCMD New Technology Note

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June 3rd 2020: AWSensors is pleased to announce the release of its new Technology Note on Quartz Crystal Microbalance with Dissipation entitled “AWSensors QCMD“.

Summary of the Note

Advanced Wave Sensors is a company that designs, develops, and manufactures ultra-sensitive sensing systems based on the quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation (QCMD) measurement technology. In this Note the technology basics are explained.

QCM-technology

Introduction

At the core of the QCMD technology is a piezoelectric resonator, typically made of quartz, that is excited to oscillate at its resonance frequency in the thickness-shear mode by applying an alternating current through the electrodes deposited on its surface.

With the resonator oscillating in the thickness shear mode, its two surfaces move in the opposite directions, as indicated by the arrows in Figure 2. The wavelength of the shear wave, λ, is therefore twice the thickness of the sensor, ? = 2? . Because ?? = ? , where ? = √(??/??) , is the speed of shear sound in the material and ? is the frequency, the resonance frequency of such a resonator is given by ?? = ??/2? = (?/2?) √(??/??), where ?? is the shear modulus of quartz, ?? is its density, and ? is the (odd) overtone order. The same expression may be derived formally by solving the equations describing the propagation of shear waves in elastic media subject to appropriate boundary conditions, as discussed in ref. 1. Plugging in 29×109 Pa for the shear modulus of AT quartz and 2650 kg/m3 for the density, one obtains a frequency of ~ 5 MHz for a thickness of ~ 330 um at the fundamental, where n = 1.

Continue reading downloading the full Technology Note (below) …

Download Full Technology Note

You can download the full Technology Note in pdf file from this link or download it from our Technology Web Page where you can find this and the rest of our Technology Notes.