Abstract

The possibility to apply microelectronics and nanotechnologies to biological applications has driven the development of a class of devices know as BioMEMS. In these devices, electronic, electromechanical and microfluidic elements can be combined to allow sensitive, automated and, potentially, portable biomedical devices. Our research at INESC MN centers on the application of thin film electromechanical and electronic devices to biological sensing applications.

In this talk, we present an overview of two aspects of this work:

- Electric-Field addressing of biomolecules: In this work, a single, fast, electric field pulse is used to significantly enhance the kinetics of DNA immobilization and hybridization, as well as protein immobilization, on a functionalized thin-film surface. We will also discuss how this can be applied to fabrication and analysis of DNA microarrays.

- MEMS -based biomolecular detection: We will describe the fabrication and properties of thin-film silicon and polymer microelectromechanical systems, and their application as molecular biosensors for on-chip detection of DNA and proteins.