Patent ID: 7105358

Claim:
An apparatus to measure micro-forces due to interactions between a predetermined substance and a sensing material that binds the substance, the apparatus comprising: a cantilever palette including a plurality of cantilever array blocks, each cantilever array block including a plurality of cantilevers, each cantilever including a plurality of cantilever fingers surrounded by a frame with frame fingers, the cantilever fingers and the frame fingers forming a diffraction grating, wherein each cantilever finger in the array block comprises the sensing material selected to interact with the substance predetermined for measurement by the apparatus, such that cantilevers of the cantilever array block deflect in the presence of the substance, causing the diffraction grating to diffract light and thereby provide a change in a diffraction pattern or color of the diffracted light, as a visual indication of the presence of the substance, and wherein the apparatus does not include an external source of electrical power for the cantilever palette.