We show the application of a commercially available photopatternable silicone (PPS) that combines the advantageous features of both PDMS and SU-8 to address a critical bioMEMS materials deficiency. Using PPS, we demonstrate the ability to pattern free-standing mechanically isolated elastomeric structures on a silicon substrate: a feat that is challenging to accomplish using soft lithography-bas...

The cantilever-based BioMEMS sensor represents one instance frommany competing ideas of biosensor technology based on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems. The advancement of BioMEMS from laboratory scale experiments to applications in the field will require standardization of their components and manufacturing procedures as well as frameworks to evaluate their performance. Reliability, the likelih...

Laboratory for Cellular BioMEMS – Research Themes Our group performs research on BioMEMS, applying microfabrication technology to illuminate biological systems, especially at the cellular level. Specifically, we develop technologies that enhance or enable the acquisition of information from cells. Our research builds upon various disciplines: electrical engineering, microfabrication, bioenginee...

Micromachining and MEMS technologies can be used to produce complex electrical, mechanical, fluidic, thermal, optical, and magnetic structures, devices, and systems on a scale ranging from organs to subcellular organelles. This miniaturization ability has enabled MEMS to be applied in many areas of biology, medicine, and biomedical engineering – a field generally referred to as BioMEMS. The fut...

A novel technique for producing high aspect ratio parylene structures via switching chemistry plasma etching is presented. Parylene C, or poly(monochloro-p-xylylene), has become an increasingly popular MEMS material for its excellent properties and biocompatibility. However, the inability to fabricate closely-spaced high aspect ratio (HAR) structures severely limits the use of parylene, particu...

Here we show the application of a commercially available photopatternable silicone (PPS) that combines advantages of both PDMS and SU-8 to address a critical need in material building blocks for bioMEMS. Using PPS we have demonstrated the ability to pattern free-standing mechanically isolated elastomeric structures on a silicon substrate, a feat challenging to approach using soft lithography-ba...