Direct Write Microfabrication Platform for Biomedical Research

描述（由申请人提供）：微尺度系统在基础和应用生物医学研究中有着强大的和日益增长的存在。在微米尺度上操纵和定义实验系统的能力揭示了许多关于细胞如何与其复杂环境相互作用的信息。相反，生物分子分析系统的小型化有望实现可运输和有效的诊断。我们正在提议购买一个微加工平台，以加速哥伦比亚大学校园内这些领域的研究。近年来，这个领域的研究在这个校园里有了巨大的增长，目前我们对精密微加工的需求并没有通过校园或当地的资源得到满足。具体来说，我们需要制造技术，在足够大的区域上提供微米尺度的特征图案，以进行当代细胞培养实验。我们提出的平台是一个最先进的激光光刻平台，最小特征尺寸为1微米。除了提供急需的容量之外，该平台还提供了几个关键功能。在这种方法中，激光扫描整个工作表面，直接暴露基板的指定区域以供后期处理。通过避免对光刻掩模的需求，这种方法缩短了微图案的设计/分析周期，并大大降低了每次迭代的成本。此外，对激光强度的控制使得制造复杂表面的一系列先进的图案技术成为可能。该设备将补充目前哥伦比亚大学校园内的设施，为这个社区提供重要的资源。这个项目的研究团队代表了广泛的生物医学科学和工程兴趣。通过将这种能力提供给不同的兴趣群体，拟议的设备将对加速研究产生广泛的影响。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Microscale systems have a strong and increasing presence in basic and applied biomedical research. The ability to manipulate and define an experimental system at the scale of micrometers has revealed much about how cells interact with their complex environment. Conversely, miniaturization of biomolecular analyses systems hold the promise of transportable and effective diagnostics. We are proposing to purchase a microfabrication platform to accelerate research into these fields on the Columbia University campus. This area of research has seen a tremendous increase in recent years on this campus, and currently our need for sophisticated microfabrication is not met through resources on campus or in the local area. Specifically, we have a need for fabrication techniques that provide patterning of micrometer scale features over areas sufficiently large to carry out contemporary cell culture experiments. The platform we are proposing is a state-of-the-art laser lithography platform, with a minimum feature size of 1 micrometer. In addition to providing much needed capacity, this platform offers several key capabilities. In this approach, a laser is scanned across a working surface, directly exposing designated regions of the substrate for later processing. By circumventing the need for a photolithographic mask, this approach shortens the design/analysis cycle for micropatterning, and dramatically reduces the cost of each iteration. In addition, control over the laser intensity makes possible a range of advance patterning techniques for making complex surfaces. This apparatus will complement the facilities currently in place on the Columbia University campus, providing an important resource for this community. The team of investigators in this proposed project represents a wide range of biomedical science and engineering interests. By making this capacity available to this diverse group of interests, the proposed equipment will have a wide impact on accelerating research.