Memsurface.com

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Surface coating technology for MEMS and Biochips

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MicroSurfaces Inc.

MicroSurfaces Inc. (MSI) is a startup stage company founded to commercialize surface coating technologies. MSI is addressing the emerging industry of Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS), including microarray and microfluidics. The latter two are also called BioMEMS. For micromachines, MSI's technology provides a low surface energy coating which eliminates the tendency of MEMS parts to stick together or slide poorly; a problem referred to as "stiction", and reduces the problem of long term performance drift due to surface changes. In BioMEMS, MSI's technology provides low background coatings for the immobilization of biomolecues, such as DNA and proteins, etc., and surface modification for microfluidic devices.

The Problems of MEMS

MEMS, for all of its promise, has been stymied by a host of problems, many of which have their roots in the very promise of MEMS, their miniaturization. As any given 3D shape is made smaller, the ratio of surface area to mass (or weight) increases, and surface forces begin to dominate over forces such as inertia and gravity. Such surface forces are primarily attractive forces such as capillary forces, electrostatic forces ("static cling"), and molecular bonding forces. The consequence of these surface forces is a tendency for individual MEMS parts to stick together and to slide poorly, referred to as "stiction" in the MEMS industry. These high energy surfaces can also lead to the accumulation (adsorption) of background molecules on microstructures, resulting in "drift" in device performance.

In the BioMEMS area, direct analysis of proteins using protein microarrays is projected to unleash analogous growth like the DNA microarray market (billion dollar). Due to the complex nature of a protein, the most challenge task for protein microarrays is to immobilize a protein in its native state and with low background.