Simulation and experimental study of PCR chip based on silicon

PCR technology has been widely applied to biomedicine and other related fields. PCR biochip shortens reaction time and reduces expensive reagents quantities. If the PCR biochip can be integrated with capillary electrophoresis chip, then the microminiaturization of biochemical analysis system will be possible. A micro PCR biochip based on silicon is designed and fabricated by MEMS technology in this paper. In order to reduce the processing complicacy, the temperature sensor and the micro heater were fabricated with chromium metal film. Since the characteristics of metal membrane is closely related to the performance of the material itself and the fabrication technology, the impact of fabrication technology on the membrane performance is studied in this paper. The results indicate the rational domain design, suitable processing condition and appropriate controlling system are preferable to the requirements of PCR reaction. (c) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.