A Monolithic, High Precision, High Capacity Microbalance

Many physical processes can be followed by monitoring mass changes. As a result, various microbalances have been developed and are commercially available. However, these microbalances either have a high resolution or a large load capacity. Custom made apparatuses have been made in the past to solve these issues, but these devices were difficult to construct, fragile and consume a large footprint. An automated electrobalance has been devised using elastic hinges with a capacity exceeding 1 gram and a resolution of 1 microgram invariant of the load. The instrument can be used in ultra-high vacuum at wide ranges of temperatures and pressures. It is resistant against vibrations, shocks and normal ambient temperature changes. The balance is solely manufactured by electrical discharging machining and micro milling resulting in a small robust device with built-in stops to increase the handleability and prevent permanent damage of the device. Other virtues of this balance include adaptability, versatile, ease of calibration and use.