A thermal platform and a method of fabricating a thermal platform

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a microfabricated thermal platform. The platform is formed over a substrate, which may for example be a silicon wafer, and which may form part of the platform. The substrate is coated in a thermally-insulating material, which may be an organic polymer such, as polyimide or SU8. The thermally-insulating material may have a predetermined thermal conductivity, which is dependent on thickness, geometry and processing. The surface of the thermally-insulating material may include an arrangement of thermal sites, with each site having a reaction plate (or thermal plate) over which chemical reactions may occur. A heating element may be positioned beneath each reaction plate. The thermal platform may have a plurality of such thermal sites arranged over the upper surface of the thermally-insulating material. However, it will be appreciated that in practice, there could be a single thermal site. In use, the thermal platform may have a fluidic medium, such as a liquid or a gas, disposed over the thermal sites. One application for the thermal platform is in chemical and biological reactions. In such reactions, the fluidic medium may be an aqueous solution which comprises reagents for those reactions. The fluidic medium may be an ionically conducting fluid, organic solution or a gas. Precise temperature control enables the correct reactions to occur.

Description

technical field [0001] The present disclosure relates to a thermal platform and a method of manufacturing the thermal platform. Specifically, the present disclosure relates to a micromachining thermal platform that uses heating elements to maintain a desired temperature. Background technique [0002] Certain chemical and biological reactions require precise temperature control. Examples include polymerase chain reaction (PCR), heat-assisted hydrolysis and methylation, and other heat-activated reactions. It is known to provide a thermal platform to control this reaction. A thermal platform typically consists of a hot plate (sometimes called a reaction plate) that can be coated in the catalyst, using a heater unit to heat the catalyst to the desired temperature. Flow channels are usually provided above the reaction plate to introduce the necessary chemicals to the reaction site. Such thermal platforms can be fabricated using semiconductor-based micromachining techniques. ...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

[0003] Known technology requires increased thermal precision and is inefficient from a power consumption standpoint

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