openQCM NEXTThe NEXT, in numbers.

An advanced Quartz Crystal Microbalance featuring high-precision nanogram-level mass detection, real-time dissipation monitoring, and integrated thermal control — ideal for material science, chemistry, and biosensing.

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Performance

Noise, overtone by overtone

	n = 1	3	5	7	9
Frequency SD, air Hz	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1
Frequency SD, liquid Hz	2.8	2.5	2.3	2.0	2.1
Dissipation SD, air ppm	0.3	0.1	0.3	0.2	0.2
Dissipation SD, liquid ppm	3.9	4.6	13.5	20.8	34.0

5 MHz crystal; the 9th overtone is marked beta.

Sensor

Number of sensors: Single quartz resonator
Quartz sensors: 5 MHz and 10 MHz, 14 mm, wrapped electrode (single-side contact)
Frequency range: 1–50 MHz
Typical mass sensitivity: 1.767 × 10⁻⁸ g·Hz⁻¹·cm⁻² at 5 MHz

Measurement

Electronics interface: Network analyser: AD9851 DDS sweep, AD8302 gain and phase
Quantities: Frequency and dissipation
Overtones: Up to the 9th with 5 MHz crystals (9th in beta), up to the 5th with 10 MHz
Acquisition: All overtones swept in every multiscan cycle, about 1.4 s per overtone (about 7 s for five overtones)

Thermal control

Element: Peltier, heating and cooling
Controller: Thorlabs MTD415T, ±1.5 A
Sensor: 10 kΩ thermistor in the fluidic module
Working range: 25–45 °C (driver nominal 5–45 °C)
Stability: ±0.01 °C

Mechanical

Main case: Aluminium 6061 and nylon PA2200
Heat sink: Flash chrome-plated aluminium
Standard fluidic module: Chrome-plated aluminium shell with PTFE core; FKM (Viton) O-ring
Chamber volume: ~50 µl
Dimensions: 200 × 80 × 40 mm
Weight: ~260 g

Power and data

Electronics: USB, 5 V
Peltier: 5 V, 2.1 A adaptor included; up to 1.6 A
Data: USB serial (COM port)
Software: Python, open source; CSV data