Photolithography jobs

MicruX has extensive experience in the use of the most innovative technologies for the development of novel products in the microfluidic and electrochemistry field.

The current trend for the simplification, miniaturization and automation of the analytical systems have given the named (LOC) or Micro Total Analysis Systems (µTAS).

Lab-on-a-Chip technology pretends to integrate the main steps of an analytical process (mix, reactions, injection, separations, detection, etc...) carried out in a laboratory in a very small device [+].

Microfluidics, the manipulation of fluids in channels with dimensions of tens of micrometres, can be considered a part of the Lab-on-a-Chip technology that has developed continuously and became a distinct new field.

These novel devices offer high speed, great versatility, high throughput, low cost, performance of parallel assays and negligible consumption of reagents/sample and waste generation.

Therefore, a biosensor consists of three main parts:

» A biological sensing element (biological material such as microorganisms, organelles, cell receptors, enzymes, antibodies, nucleic acids, etc).

» A transducer (electrochemical, optical, piezoelectric detectors, etc...) that transforms the signal resulting from the interaction of the analyte with the biological element into an easily measurable signal.

» Associated electronics or signal processors to display the results in a user-friendly way.

In case of using an electrochemical transducer, the biological recognition element can be immobilized in the electrode surface in order to get the biosensor.

is a process used in microfabrication to selectively remove parts of a thin-film (or the bulk of a substrate). It uses light to transfer a pattern from a photomask to a light-sensitive chemical on the substrate. These wafers are made on different materials: glass, silicon, quartz, polymers and also metals.

Photolithography (also known as "microlitography" or "nanolithography") works similarly to traditional lithography used in printing jobs. It also shares some fundamental principles with photography [+].

This technology is useful in the manufacture of microfluidic devices as well as thin-film electrodes and microelectrodes.

Wet etching is used in microfabrication to chemically remove layers from the surface of a wafer during manufacturing. The selection of the solution employed for this process is critically important [+].

When glass substrates are used, hydrofluoric acid is the solution employed to remove the selected parts of the wafer.

This process is used to bond two surfaces, usually the same material, by applying pressure and temperature close to (Tg) of the material [+].

Thin-film metal deposition is widely used in microfabrication. Different technologies such as or (CVD) can be used for thin-film deposition on several substrates (silicon, glass, polymers...).

The combination of photolithographic processes, metal deposition and enable the fabrication of electrodes and microelectrodes with high precision and resolution for using in microfluidic devices and sensors.