BioMEMS meets lab-on-a-chip: Heterogeneous integration of silicon MEMS and NEMS in polymer microfluidics

We present a new heterogeneous integration method which enables direct incorporation of silicon-based microfluidic components in an injection-moulded polymer lab-on-a-chip (LOC). The integration is performed as part of the injection moulding process, forming direct fluidic junctions between the polymer and the silicon chip while embedding the silicon chip in the polymer chip. We have demonstrated that such fluidic junctions can withstand at least 3 bars of liquid pressure. With this integration method, the fluidic interface between the silicon chip and the polymer chip can be made compact and free of dead-volume. The method opens for mass fabrication of highly functional, heterogeneous LOC systems containing MEMS and NEMS components such as biosensors and actuators integrated in the polymer chip.