|
Anti-stiction
and Anti-Drift coatings for MEMS
MSI's MEMS coatings are designed to provide the
following characteristics: covalently bonded monolayer, low surface
energy, low friction coefficient, thermally and mechanically stable.
While they mainly serve as anti-stiction coatings, these monolayers
also provide long term surface stability, thus eliminating surface related
drifting of device performance. Precursor molecules contain two major
parts, R & X. The R group is selected to provide low surface
energy, i.e., "wax" or "Teflon" like, while the
X group is chosen to selectively react with the solid surface of interest
for covalent linkage. The attachment of these molecules to the solid
surface is a kinetically controlled process; the reaction self-terminates
after a saturated monolayer coverage is reached. This is very different
from self-assembled monolayers (SAMs). Such a selective and controlled
reaction ensures that the coating is conformal with solid surfaces in
a MEMS device. The thickness of the coating is chosen to be 1-3 nm and
does not affect the mechanical properties of the MEMS structure.
Low-background coatings
for Microarrays, Bio-sensors, and Biomedical Research
MSI's bio-surface coatings are designed to provide
optimal performance for microarrays, particularly protein microarrays.
These coatings possess the following characteristics: (1) low background
chemical environment reduces/eliminates non-specific adsorption and
allows blocking with small molecules; (2) covalent monolayer coating
provides uniform surface functionality for protein attachment; (3) intrinsic
inertness minimizes protein-surface contact area and preserves protein
native state; (4) the coating is hydrophilic and compatible with fluidic
systems. (click for details)
|
