Patent ID: 7900527

Claim:
A mechanical sensor having electrically induced deflective amplification for adaptive sensing of a physical property of a material comprising: a first and a second parallel electrode plates separated by a gap for applying a voltage difference to the first and second parallel electrode plates to generate an electrostatic field between the first and second parallel electrode plates; a non-magnetic and non-conductive reconfigurable transducer positioned within the gap between the first and second parallel electrode plates, the reconfigurable transducer bending in direct response to a change in the strength of the electrostatic field caused by a physical property of a material within range of the reconfigurable transducer which changes a position of an emitted or reflected light beam, the reconfigurable transducer comprising: one single micro- or nano-scale optical device; and a coupling device for guiding and confining a light beam for transmitting through the optical device, the position of the optical output changing due to the bending of the reconfigurable transducer in response to the detected material; and a detecting device to monitor the transmitted beam for detecting a position of the output of the reconfigurable transducer, the detected material identified by a change in position of the reconfigurable transducer.