We have fabricated mechanically stable, thermally isolated microfluidic channels with silicon heaters embedded in the sidewalls, using the trench-assisted surface channel technology (TASCT) [1]. Sidewall heating results in an enhanced heating uniformity while allowing high heating powers because of the relatively large crosssectional area (20 µm by 50 µm) of the silicon heaters. In the proof-of-principle device a maximum temperature of 406 °C was reached at a heating power of 1.4 W, limited by thermal expansion of the channel. The fabrication process enables both the channels and the silicon heaters to have a rectangular cross-section with a depth defined by the device layer thickness and a variable width and length.

Fast point-of-use detection of, for example, early-stage zoonoses, e.g., Q-fever, bovine tuberculosis, or the Covid-19 coronavirus, is beneficial for both humans and animal husbandry as it can save lives and livestock. The latter prevents farmers from going bankrupt after a zoonoses outbreak. This paper describes the development of a fabrication process and the proof-of-principle of a disposable DNA amplification chip with an integrated heater. Based on the analysis of the milling process, metal adhesion studies, and COMSOL MultiPhysics heat transfer simulations, the first batch of chips has been fabricated and successful multiple displacement amplification reactions are performed inside these chips. This research is the first step towards the development of an early-stage zoonoses detection device. Tests with real zoonoses and DNA specific amplification reactions still need to be done.

Micro-electro-mechanical-systems (MEMS) structures with different in-plane dimensions often need to be released simultaneously from the bulk of the wafer and a single dry etching or wet etching technique cannot fulfill all release requirements. In this paper we present a universally applicable solution to release MEMS structures with different surface areas in a controlled and uniform way, which combines isotropic etching of a sacrificial silicon support structure by xenon difluoride with a predefined etch surface made by deep reactive ion etching. Two applications of this Sacrificial Grid Release Technology are presented, in which MEMS devices are released in silicon-on-insulator wafers. The demonstrated applications involve the release of microstructures with in-plane dimensions ranging from tens of micrometers to a few millimeters. The sacrificial silicon structure provides mechanical support which allows freedom in process flow design for fragile MEMS structures. The release technique can also be used to separate the chips from the wafer.

A microfluidic protein aggregation device (microPAD) that allows the user to perform a series of protein incubations with various concentrations of two reagents is demonstrated. The microfluidic device consists of 64 incubation chambers to perform individual incubations of the protein at 64 specific conditions. Parallel processes of metering reagents, stepwise concentration gradient generation, and mixing are achieved simultaneously by pneumatic valves. Fibrillation of bovine insulin was selected to test the device. The effect of insulin and sodium chloride (NaCl) concentration on the formation of fibrillar structures was studied by observing the growth rate of partially folded protein, using the fluorescent marker Thioflavin-T. Moreover, dual gradients of different NaCl and hydrochloric acid (HCl) concentrations were formed, to investigate their interactive roles in the formation of insulin fibrils and spherulites. The chip-system provides a bird’s eye view on protein aggregation, including an overview of the factors that affect the process and their interactions. This microfluidic platform is potentially useful for rapid analysis of the fibrillation of proteins associated with many misfolding-based diseases, such as quantitative and qualitative studies on amyloid growth.

Surface Channel Technology is known as the fabrication platform to make free-hanging microchannels for various microfluidic sensors and actuators. In this technology, thin film metal electrodes, such as platinum or gold, are often used for electrical sensing and actuation purposes. As a result that they are located at the top surface of the microfluidic channels, only topside sensing and actuation is possible. Moreover, in microreactor applications, high temperature degradation of thin film metal layers limits their performance as robust microheaters. In this paper, we report on an innovative idea to make microfluidic devices with integrated silicon sidewall electrodes, and we demonstrate their use as microheaters. This is achieved by modifying the original Surface Channel Technology with optimized mask designs. The modified technology allows to embed heavily-doped bulk silicon electrodes in between the sidewalls of two adjacent free-hanging microfluidic channels. The bulk silicon electrodes have the same electrical properties as the extrinsic silicon substrate. Their cross-sectional geometry and overall dimensions can be designed by optimizing the mask design, hence the resulting resistance of each silicon electrode can be customized. Furthermore, each silicon electrode can be electrically insulated from the silicon substrate. They can be designed with large cross-sectional areas and allow for high power dissipation when used as microheater. A demonstrator device is presented which reached 119.4 ∘ C at a power of 206.9 m W , limited by thermal conduction through the surrounding air. Other potential applications are sensors using the silicon sidewall electrodes as resistive or capacitive readout.