The authors have designed and fabricated arrays of microcantilevers with a geometry that shows reduced initial angular offset and angle deviation between the cantilevers of the array. This feature allows to detect the displacement of the cantilevers using the optical beam deflection technique and a single split photodetector. The structure is analytically and numerically simulated to demonstrate its feasibility. In addition, experimental measurements of the angle offset corroborate the offset and the angle deviation reduction. Finally, they illustrate the potential of these micromechanical structures as sensors by measuring a monolayer of single stranded DNA. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.