Roll-to-roll fabrication of integrated PDMS-paper microfluidics for nucleic acid amplification.

Microfluidic-based integrated molecular diagnostic systems, which are automated, sensitive, specific, user-friendly, robust, rapid, easy-to-use, and portable, can revolutionize future medicine. Current research and development largely relies on polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) to fabricate microfluidic devices. Since the transition from the proof-of-principle phase to clinical studies requires a vast number of integrated microfluidic devices, there is a need for a high-volume manufacturing method of silicone-based microfluidics. Here we present the first roll-to-roll (R2R) thermal imprinting method to fabricate integrated PDMS-paper microfluidics for molecular diagnostics, which allows production of tens of thousands of replicates in an hour. In order to validate the replicated molecular diagnostic platforms, on-chip amplification of viral ribonucleic acid (RNA) with loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) was demonstrated. These low-cost, rapid and accurate molecular diagnostic platforms will generate a wide range of applications in preventive personalized medicine, global healthcare, agriculture, food, environment, water monitoring, and global biosecurity.

Influence of an Al2O3 surface coating on the response of polymeric waveguide sensors.

The responses of a polymer ridge waveguide Young interferometer with and without a bilayer of Al2O3/TiO2, fabricated by atomic layer deposition, are studied and compared when applied as an aqueous chemical sensor. The phase shift of the guided mode, as a result of the change in refractive index of the cover medium, is monitored. The results indicate that the over-coating affects the linearity of the sensor response. The effect of concentration on the linearity of the sensor response is investigated by applying different concentrations of water-ethanol solution. Although the performance of the sensor is improved by the additional layers, the study reveals a non-monotonic behavior of the device. We show that it comes mainly from the adsorption of ethanol molecules on the surface of the films. Such an understanding of the platform is crucial for sensing of analytes involving polar molecules.

Hybrid layered polymer slot waveguide Young interferometer.

We demonstrate a polymer slot waveguide Young interferometer coated with a bilayer of Al2O3/TiO2. The approach enables relaxed dimensions of the polymer waveguide which simplifies the fabrication of the structure with a resolution of 50 nm. The layers were coated by an atomic layer deposition technique. The feasibility of the device was investigated by exploiting the interferometric structure as a bulk refractive index sensor operating at 975 nm wavelength for detection of an ethanol-water solution. A refractive index change of 1 × 10-6 RIU with a sensing length of only 800 µm was detected. The approach confirms the possibility of realizing a low cost device with a small footprint and enhanced sensitivity by employing the TiO2 rails in the sides of the slot waveguide.

Disposable photonic integrated circuits for evanescent wave sensors by ultra-high volume roll-to-roll method.

Flexible photonic integrated circuit technology is an emerging field expanding the usage possibilities of photonics, particularly in sensor applications, by enabling the realization of conformable devices and introduction of new alternative production methods. Here, we demonstrate that disposable polymeric photonic integrated circuit devices can be produced in lengths of hundreds of meters by ultra-high volume roll-to-roll methods on a flexible carrier. Attenuation properties of hundreds of individual devices were measured confirming that waveguides with good and repeatable performance were fabricated. We also demonstrate the applicability of the devices for the evanescent wave sensing of ambient refractive index. The production of integrated photonic devices using ultra-high volume fabrication, in a similar manner as paper is produced, may inherently expand methods of manufacturing low-cost disposable photonic integrated circuits for a wide range of sensor applications.

Compensation of drift by using a multichannel integrated Young interferometer.

Polymer-based integrated Young interferometer (YI) sensor chips have proven to be sensitive and have potential to be mass-manufactured. The sensing method is however, disturbed by the mechanical drifts, thus requiring well stabilized and isolated measurement setups that limit its applicability to low-cost readers for rapid diagnostics. In this paper we derive a method for the compensation of mechanical drift by using a multichannel integrated YI chip having two reference channels. The compensation method was demonstrated by quantitative measurements with a three-channel integrated polymeric YI sensor chip using an undisturbed and a mechanically disturbed setup. By applying the compensation method, the intrinsic drift of the undisturbed setup was reduced up to 84%. With the mechanically disturbed setup, the sample-induced phase-change responses were separated up to a 161 times larger disturbed signal.

Polymeric slot waveguide interferometer for sensor applications.

A refractive index sensor based on slot waveguide Young interferometer was developed in this work. The interferometer was fabricated on a polymer platform and operates at a visible wavelength of 633 nm. The phase shift of the interference pattern was measured with various concentrations of glucose-water solutions, utilizing both TE and TM polarization states. The sensor was experimentally observed to detect a refractive index difference of 6.4 × 10(-6) RIU. Furthermore, the slot Young interferometer was found to compensate for temperature variations. The results of this work demonstrate that high performance sensing capability can be obtained with a polymeric slot Young interferometer, which can be fabricated by a simple molding process.