Market Assessment for Universal Nanofluidic Cell with Loading Station

市售的纳米流体芯片（NFC）系统基本上是两个基于硅晶片的纳米制造芯片，其具有由薄间隔物（通常大约几百nm）分开的透明窗口。在这样的NFC系统中，即使是0.1 uL的微小液滴也足以使液体流过间隔件的顶部。这以不可再现的方式增加了有效的电子束路径。当前NFC系统的主要问题是无法准确和精确地控制最终液体层厚度和液体样品（液滴）的定位。我们创新的新型通用NFC和上样站系统通过提供储液区完全避免了这一问题。（或溢流集水池）以捕获多余的流体并将其从间隔件排出，从而使观察区域不受影响。滑铁卢大学（UW）NFC允许过量的液体溢出到相邻的储液器中，而不会到达间隔件区域。此外，芯片的特殊形状使液滴能够在观察区域中自我定位，并在密封之前预浓缩到所需的水平。我们的NFC将被装载在一个专门设计的装载站中，以实现最小或无窗口膨胀，从而能够控制有效电子束路径或液体层厚度，从而在较大的可视区域内获得更高分辨率的滴铸样品图像。此外，UW NFC被制造成适合于最常用的样品保持器。

Commercially available Nanofluidic Chip (NFC) systems are basically two Silicon wafer based nanofabricated chips with transparent windows separated by a thin spacer (typically in the order of a few hundreds of nm). In such a NFC system, even a tiny droplet of 0.1 uL suffices for the liquid to run over the top of the spacer. This increases the effective electron beam path in a non-reproducible manner. The main problem with current NFC systems is the inability to accurately and precisely control of the final liquid layer thickness and the positioning of the liquid sample (droplet).Our innovative new universal NFC and loading station system avoid this problem entirely by providing a reservoir area (or overflow catch basin) to capture the excess fluid and drain it away from the spacer thereby leaving the viewing area unaffected.University of Waterloo (UW) NFCs allow for the excess of liquid to spill over into an adjacent reservoir, without reaching the spacer area. In addition, the special shape of the chips enables the liquid droplet to self-position in the viewing area and pre-concentrate at desired level before sealing. Our NFCs are to be loaded in a specially designed loading station for minimal to none window bulging to enable control of the effective electron beam path or liquid layer thickness, and therefore better resolution images of drop-casted specimens over large viewing areas. Moreover, UW NFCs are fabricated to fit in most commonly used sample holders.