Piezoelectric resonators based on self-assembled diphenylalanine microtubes

Piezoelectric actuation has been widely used in microelectromechanical devices including resonance-based biosensors, mass detectors, resonators, etc. These were mainly produced by micromachining of Si and deposited inorganic piezoelectrics based on metal oxides or perovskite-type materials which have to be further functionalized in order to be used in biological applications. In this work, we demonstrate piezoelectrically driven micromechanical resonators based on individual self-assembled diphenylalanine microtubes with strong intrinsic piezoelectric effect. Tubes of different diameters and lengths were grown from the solution and assembled on a rigid support. The conducting tip of the commercial atomic force microscope was then used to both excite vibrations and study resonance behavior. Efficient piezoelectric actuation at the fundamental resonance frequency ≈2.7 MHz was achieved with a quality factor of 114 for a microtube of 277 μm long. A possibility of using piezoelectric dipeptides for biosensor applications is discussed.