Design and microfabrication of a polymer membrane-based submicron scale electrophoretic flow detector for biomedical applications

This study demonstrates the design and microfabrication of single cylindrical submicron-sized pores in 1 mu m-thick PMMA membranes, and their integration and assembly into all-polymeric electrophoretic detectors. Pore sizes vary from 200 to 600 nm. Fabrication includes electron beam lithography of the pore and mechanical microfabrication and assembly of the remaining detector system, using UV-curing glues and a silicon sacrificial substrate wafer. Initial electrophoretic translocation experiments have been performed for various potassium chloride (KCl) electrolyte concentrations between 0.1 and 1 M. Experiments prove that the detector system is hermetically sealed, that the pores are capable of sustaining an open pore current, and that they respond with a steady and low-noise signal. The same experiments have also been applied to analyze the pore metrology, and revealed that submicron pore sizes have been underestimated by roughly 150 nm.