This article reviews state-of-the-art microfluidic biosensors of nucleic acids and proteins for pointof-care (POC) diagnostics. Microfluidics is capable of analyzing small sample volumes (10 -9 -10 -18 l) and minimizing costly reagent consumption as well as automating sample preparation and reducing processing time. The merger of microfluidics and advanced biosensor technologies offers new promises for POC diagnostics, including high-throughput analysis, portability and disposability. However, this merger also imposes technological challenges on biosensors, such as high sensitivity and selectivity requirements with sample volumes orders of magnitude smaller than those of conventional practices, false response errors due to non-specific adsorption, and integrability with other necessary modules. There have been many prior review articles on microfluidic-based biosensors, and this review focuses on the recent progress in last 5 years. Herein, we review general technologies of DNA and protein biosensors. Then, recent advances on the coupling of the biosensors to microfluidics are highlighted. Finally, we discuss the key challenges and potential solutions for transforming microfluidic biosensors into POC diagnostic applications.

Atomic force microscopy analyses were performed on Ge islands on Si(001) grown by low pressure chemical vapor deposition in the temperature range from 525 to 700 °C. A comparison with theoretical models describing the growth of coherently strained and plastically relaxed islands is given to describe the observations. The mean diameter of coherently strained islands is found to be 170 nm over a wide range of temperature, whereas plastically relaxed islands grow up to diameters >500 nm. The aspect ratio turns out to be independent of the presence of dislocations. For the sample grown at 700 °C three size regimes could be observed, whereas the sample grown at the lowest temperature exhibits no island formation. At 550 °C islands with an average diameter of 33 nm and a low aspect ratio were observed; these could prove to be interesting in applications using quantum confinement effects.

We present experimental results on the activation and diffusion behaviors of boron in silicon-on-insulator and strained silicon-on-insulator using standard rapid thermal processing treatments as well as flash lamp annealing. After boron implantation at different doses and at a low energy of 1 keV, samples were annealed to activate the dopants, and secondary ion mass spectrometry and Hall measurements were carried out to determine boron diffusion and the amount of activated dopants, respectively. In contrast to rapid thermal annealing, flash lamp annealing enables the activation without significant diffusion of dopants. In addition, we investigated the effect of coating the samples with antireflection layers to increase the absorbed energy during flash annealing. As a result, the activation was increased significantly to values comparable with the activation obtained with standard annealing. Furthermore, the relation between the observed boron diffusion and activation as a function of the implantation and annealing parameters is discussed in terms of the kinetics of the defects involved in these processes.

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have one of the highest production volumes among carbonaceous engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) worldwide and are have potential uses in applications including biomedicine, nanocomposites, and energy conversion. However, CNTs possible widespread usage and associated likelihood for biological exposures have driven concerns regarding their nanotoxicity and ecological impact. In this work, we probe the responses of planar suspended lipid bilayer membranes, used as model cell membranes, to functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT), CdSe/ZnS quantum dots, and a control organic compound, melittin, using an electrophysiological measurement platform. The electrophysiological measurements show that MWCNTs in a concentration range of 1.6 to 12 ppm disrupt lipid membranes by inducing significant transmembrane current fluxes, which suggest that MWCNTs insert and traverse the lipid bilayer membrane, forming transmembrane carbon nanotubes channels that allow the transport of ions. This paper demonstrates a direct measurement of ion migration across lipid bilayers induced by CNTs. Electrophysiological measurements can provide unique insights into the lipid bilayer–ENPs interactions and have the potential to serve as a preliminary screening tool for nanotoxicity.

Results demonstrating the field effect modulation of ionic transport through an array of cylindrical nanopores fabricated in silicon-on-insulator substrates are presented. Pronounced modulation of the conductance is observed at low electrolyte concentrations when the electric double layers within the nanopores are overlapping. A numerical model based on Brownian dynamics reproduces the measured data.