A simple and effective fluidic encapsulation protocol for bioMEMS devices

Biomedical micro-electromechanical systems (bioMEMS) and other biochips usually have exposed chip surfaces that interface with fluids containing biological elements. These chips require postprocessing for fluidic encapsulation to confine the spreading of fluids during experiments. An effective fluidic encapsulation protocol is reported here that simplifies this encapsulation procedure. The protocol uses tools and components found in a typical fabrication laboratory setting. The procedure encapsulates each edge of the chip working area in one cycle and achieves sharply defined edges with thickness of 1 to 5mm with boundary tolerance less than 1mm. The protocol reduces time, complexity, cost and defects for biochip encapsulation with a working area having lengths between 3 to 100mm.