Design Optimization of Portable Single Crystal Silicon Microresonators With Passively Self-Sealing Microfluidic Conduits for Fluidic and Biological Sensing Applications

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Resonant micro sensors have emerged as a powerful platform for measuring physical quantities (mass, force, acceleration, pressure, electric charge) with unprecedented resolution. Extending these capabilities to sense quantities of interest (proteins, virus) for biology and medicine can open up valuable opportunities with potentially enormous impact on medical diagnostics and quality-of-care. However, many challenges must be overcome before the potential of this technology can be realized. These challenges define the objectives of the proposed research. The first challenge is inherent in the mode of operation: when a resonant microdevice operates in fluidic environments, the dynamic characteristics of the resonator degrade, leading to a precipitous loss of sensitivity. Specifically, the fluid medium leads to a sharp increase in damping and a corresponding decrease in the vibration frequency shift resolution. One recent approach to solve this problem is a new device architecture consisting of fluid-filled microresonators that oscillates in a vacuum cavity. The interaction with the biological fluid occurs within intricate nanofluidic channels inside the device: these are large enough to permit useful sensing, but sufficiently small so as to minimize adverse effects. Exploring the currently unknown effects of structural and operating parameters (geometry, fluid properties, flow rates) on dynamics (frequency, damping and stability of vibrations), and then translating these findings into useful design guidelines, will be the first major step of the proposed research. The second challenge is to create a compact self-contained platform for these fluid-filled microresonators. A new systems-level design will be developed to enhance the ease of use. Thus, the proposed research will generate fundamental knowledge on the dynamics of a promising class of fluid-filled microresonators and establish new technologies for creating a rapid and versatile medical diagnostics platform.