A Novel Technology to Create Monolithic Instruments for Micro Total Analysis Systems
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A Novel Technology to Create Monolithic Instruments for Micro Total Analysis Systems Konstantin Seibel, Lars Schöler, Marcus Walder, Heiko Schäfer, André Schäfer, Tobias Pletzer1, René Püschl, Michael Waidelich, Heiko Ihmels, Dietmar Ehrhardt and Markus Böhm Research Center for Micro- and Nanochemistry and Engineering (Cµ) University of Siegen, D-57068 Siegen, Germany 1 now with Institute of Semiconductor Electronics, RWTH Aachen, D-52074 Aachen, Germany ABSTRACT The feasibility of micro total analysis systems (µTAS) on microchips based on the concept of a monolithic instrument is demonstrated. In such a device a microfluidic layer system is deposited in a backend process on a conventional CMOS integrated circuit with the aim to achieve cost and performance enhancements through integration and miniaturization. Experimental results on elementary functional components of a µTAS are presented including a narrow channel electroosmotic micropump, a micro mass flow meter using the thermal anemometric principle, a micro cytometer with integrated optical detection, and elementary structures for on-chip microcapillary electrophoresis. INTRODUCTION The concept of a monolithic instrument combining standard CMOS integrated circuit technology and novel solid state components is considered a promising candidate for the realization of advanced and highly miniaturized micro total analysis systems. For that purpose a polymer based microfluidic layer system is deposited on patterned silicon wafers. The silicon wafers contain conventional integrated circuits for the control of the microfluidic components and the acquisition and processing of measurement data. A good example for an important µTAS module is a programmable micropump with an integrated mass flow sensor, measuring the actual pump rate and controlling the pump electronics in a closed feedback loop. Other examples include onchip optical detection of fluorescence marked chemical substances using integrated photodiodes in a microcapillary electrophoresis system. The aim is an application specific lab on a microchip (ALM) of a size of a few square millimeters, at costs hardly higher than the equivalent costs for a standard CMOS chip, performing complex analytical tasks, like for example the detection of contaminants in water, e.g. Hg, or the detection of key health indicators in the human blood, e.g. K ions. We envision mass applications for such monolithic systems mainly for environmental and life science areas, preferably one-time use applications, where a chip communicates with a PC, preferably wirelessly, and where the chip is provided similarly to and at costs comparably to, say an aspirin pill. In addition to such long term and still visionary mass applications the concept is believed to provide both enormous potential for multi-use high-end analytical applications as well as endless possibilities for fundamental research in the area of micro- and nanotechnologies, e.g. the study of chemistry in micro cavities, thanks to the direct local access to chemical / physi
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