In this work, we report low-loss single-mode integrated optical waveguides in the near ultra-violet and visible spectral regions with aluminum oxide (Al 2 O 3 ) films using an atomic layer deposition (ALD) process. Alumina films were deposited on glass and fused silica substrates by the ALD process at substrate/chamber temperatures of 200 °C and 300 °C. Transmission spectra and waveguide measurements were performed in our alumina films with thicknesses in the range of 210 -380 nm for the optical characterization. Those measurements allowed us to determine the optical constants (n w and k w ), propagation loss, and thickness of the alumina films. The experimental results from the applied techniques show good agreement and demonstrate a lowloss optical waveguide. Our alumina thin-film waveguides is well transparent in the whole visible spectral region and also in an important region of the UV; the measured propagation loss is below 4 dB/cm down to a wavelength as short as 250 nm. The low propagation loss of these alumina guiding films, in particular in the near ultra-violet region which lacks materials with high optical performance, is extremely useful for several integrated optic applications.

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A microactuator made from poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF), a piezoelectric polymer, was fabricated to control the gas flow rate through a glass micronozzle. The actuator was formed by gluing together two PVDF sheets with opposite polarization directions. The sheets were covered with thin conducting films on one side, that were then used as electrodes to apply an electric field to move the valve. The actuator has a rectangular shape, 3 mm × 6 mm. The device was incorporated with a micronozzle fabricated by a powder blasting technique. Upon applying a DC voltage across the actuator electrodes, one sheet expands while the other contracts, generating an opening motion. A voltage of +300 V DC was used to open the device by moving the actuator 30 μm, and a voltage of −200 V DC was used to close the device by moving the actuator 20 μm lower than the relaxed position. Flow measurements were performed in a low-pressure vacuum system, maintaining the microvalve inlet pressure constant at 266 Pa. Tests carried out with the actuator in the open position and with a pressure ratio (inlet pressure divided by outlet pressure) of 0.5, indicated a flow rate of 0.36 sccm. In the closed position, and with a pressure ratio of 0.2, a flow rate of 0.32 sccm was measured.

Clinical laboratory-based nucleic acid amplification tests (NAT) play an important role in diagnosing viral infections. However, laboratory infrastructure requirements and their failure to diagnose at the point-of-need (PON) limit their clinical utility in both resource-rich and -limited clinical settings. The development of fast and sensitive PON viral NAT may overcome these limitations. The scalability of silicon microchip manufacturing combined with advances in silicon microfluidics present an opportunity for development of rapid and sensitive PON NAT on silicon microchips. In the present study, we present rapid and sensitive NAT for a number of RNA and DNA viruses on the same silicon microchip platform. We first developed sensitive (4 copies per reaction) one-step RT-qPCR and qPCR assays detecting HCV, HIV, Zika, HPV 16, and HPV 18 on a benchtop real-time PCR instrument. A silicon microchip was designed with an etched 1.3 μL meandering microreactor, integrated aluminum heaters, thermal insulation trenches and microfluidic channels; this chip was used in all on-chip experiments. Melting curve analysis confirmed precise and localized heating of the microreactor. Following minimal optimization of reaction conditions, the bench-scale assays were successfully transferred to 1.3 μL silicon microreactors with reaction times of 25 min with no reduction in sensitivity, reproducibility, or reaction efficiencies. Taken together, these results demonstrate that rapid and sensitive detection of multiple viruses on the same silicon microchip platform is feasible. Further development of this technology, coupled with silicon microchip-based nucleic acid extraction solutions, could potentially shift viral nucleic acid detection and diagnosis from centralized clinical laboratories to the PON.