Sputtered coatings for microfluidic applications

Magnetron sputter-deposited features and coatings are finding a broad range of uses in microfluidic devices being developed at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Such features are routinely incorporated into multilayer laminated microfluidic components when specific functionality is required, and where other methods for producing these features have been deemed unacceptable. Applications include electrochemical sensors, heaters and temperature probes, electrical leads and insulation layers, piezoelectric actuators and transducers, and chemical modification of surfaces. Small features, such as those required for the production of microsensor electrodes or miniature resistive heaters on microfluidic chips, were patterned using standard lithographic methods, or with masks produced by laser micromachining processes. Thin-film piezoelectric materials such as aluminum nitride have been deposited at low temperatures for use with temperature sensitive materials. Use of the coating technology and its application in the fabrication of specific microfluidic devices, including a groundwater sensor, miniature piezoelectric ultrasonic transducers and actuators, a polymerase chain reaction thermal cycler, and a microchannel flow diagnostic device, are discussed. Technical issues associated with these coatings, such as adhesion, chemical resistance, and surface defects are also addressed. (C) 2000 American Vacuum Society. [S0734-2101(00)07104-9].