Integration of microfluidic sample delivery system on silicon nanowire-based biosensor

Silicon nanowire-based (SiNW) biosensors have gained a lot of attention during recent years. However, studies often totally neglect, or only briefly describe, the incorporation of microfluidic channel into the sensor architecture, although it is a crucial step towards a real lab-on-chip device. This paper proposes a process that can be applied to integration of microfluidic sample delivery system onto different SiNW biosensors. The sample delivery system includes a hydrophilic channel that enables the use of capillary action in delivering sample directly onto the sensor array, which leads to reduced sample loss, faster detection process, and frees from the use of external pumps. In addition, the microfluidic channel system protects the fragile SiNWs from mechanical shocks, chemical spatters, and dust. The sample delivery system was fabricated of surface treated polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), using a four-step approach, as follows: (1) master molds for soft lithography were etched onto Si. (2) PDMS replicas of the molds were fabricated and (3) bonded onto example sensor chips using oxygen plasma. (4) Oxygen plasma treatment also enabled the attachment of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) to the sample channel surfaces to synthesize hydrophilic polymer coating. A contact angle for the PVP treated PDMS was 21 after 17 days, indicating the formation of a long-term hydrophilic PDMS surface. Finally, the example SiNW sensor is modified to allow direct real-time detection of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH). The sensor was able to detect as low TSH concentration values as 0.5 mIU/l, which indicates a successfully integrated sample delivery system.