An integrated BioMEMS fabrication technology

Increasingly polymers are becoming the promising materials for the fabrication and development of microfluidic systems. Industrial interest in utilizing plastics for the production of MEMS is primarily driven by the fact that these materials are less expensive and easier to handle. Thus in the present work, we explore the use of spin castable polymer films to fabricate microfluidic devices for biological applications. Material choice and fabrication procedures are critical aspects of commercial microfluidic devices. A novel integrated fabrication process using various polymers like EPON SU-8, polypyrrole (PPy) and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is demonstrated. The main advantages over previous fabrication methods include better design flexibility, fabrication simplicity and the combination of the biocompatible conducting polymer (PPy) with SU-8. The goal of this work is to investigate the use of high aspect ratio plastic MEMS with a biocompatible conducting polymer (PPy) and demonstrate the PDMS encapsulation method. A new integration approach using various polymers in MEMS has been developed for the fabrication and the encapsulation of microfluidic devices. Such a novel polymeric device can be used to study the fluidic behavior of various biomolecules in these microchannels.