Parallel high-throughput microanalysis of materials using microfabricated full bridge device arrays

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Abstract
An array of microfabricated full bridge devices has been implemented for the rapid thermal microanalysis of polymers. In each microelectromechanical systemdevice, four strain gauges were formed in silicon cantilevered microbeams and were configured as a Wheatstone bridge circuit. Glass transition temperatures T g were measured by the quantitation of the strain produced in the sensor by the stress applied by a polymer layer to the cantilevered microbeams. The measured strain was analyzed as a function of chip temperature for the change in the slope, which was indicative to T g . Resolution of T g determinations of amorphous and crystalline polymers was <0.25 °C and <2.0 °C, respectively, being attractive for combinatorial screening of polymers. Our approach is a practical alternative to known methods for T g determinations because of the immunity to the variations in the amount of deposited material and its viscosity,vapor pressure of employed solvent, and ease of multiplexing into dense sensor arrays.