Elastic force analysis of functional polymer submicron oscillators

We report in this letter an elastic force analysis of two-photon-polymerized submicron oscillators with spiral radius of 150 nm. A laser trapping force was first utilized to mechanically drive the spring of this small size. An overdamped oscillation was observed, according to which, the spring constant was measured to approximately 10(-8) N/m. This value was 5-order smaller than the one calculated using oscillator parameters. Both deviated from a more reliable result, 10(-6) N/m, as was estimated from the laser trapping force. The significant discrepancies were attributed to scaling effects and to the difference of condensed states of the polymer related to exposure processes. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.