International Business Machines Corporation

National Research Council of Canada

Matthias Geissler

Emmanuel Delamarche

Bruno Michel

Michel Despont

Teodor Veres

Ute Drechsler

Hans Biebuyck

Heiko Wolf

Hannes Kind

Xuyen Dai Hoa

Mojra Janta

A patterned thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) film for fabricating a liquid-filled blister, has a blister-sized cavity in fluid communication with a microfluidic channel via a gating region. The gating region is defined by a relief pattern that has at least one of the following: at least 5 separate compartments defined by respective recesses in the first side, each of the recesses bounded by walls that separate the compartments from each other, the recess, or the channel; at least 5 walls defined by the patterning of the first side, the walls separating a plurality of compartments from each other, the recess, or the channel, wherein the walls have a mean thickness that is less than a mean height, and each pair of walls has a mean separation greater than twice the mean thickness; an array of separate compartments bounded by walls defined by the patterning of the first side that collectively define a polygonal regular planar tiling with at least 50% of the surface area of the gating region being open spaces; and a focusing region in fluid communication with the cavity, and a seal region having at least one wall defined by patterning of the film, wherein the at least one wall separates the focusing region from the seal region, and a shape of the at least one wall tapers the focusing region towards the seal region.

Pattenred film for forming fluid-filled blister, microfluidic blister, and kit and method of forming

A method for processing a surface involves depositing at least one class of enzymes () onto the surface (); introducing at least a reactant () into an environment of the surface (), and causing interaction between the enzymes () and the reactant (), thereby to cause processing of a region of the surface (), the processed region of the surface () being defined with respect to a region thereof that is proximate () to where the enzymes () have been deposited.

Method for processing a surface

There is disclosed a method of patterning an article () including a layer () of copper formed onto an insulating substrate () using a positive microcontact printing (MCP) process. In a preferred embodiment where the metal is copper (Cu) and the substrate is a silicon wafer, the method includes removing the native oxide presents on the Cu in a solution of HCl. Then, a stamp (') having a patterned polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) body () is linked with a 0.2 mM solution of pentaerythritol-tetrakis(3-mercaptopropionate) (PTMP) in ethanol for 1 min, to form the inking layer (&#x2032;). The stamp is applied on the Cu layer to print a first self-assembled monolayer (SAM) (&#x2032;) according to a desired pattern. The article is dipped in a solution of ECT which is then adsorbed only in the non printed regions, forming a second SAM () in a configuration that is complementary to the desired pattern. Finally, the printed areas of the Cu layer are removed using a peroxodisulfate etch bath.

Method of patterning the surface of an article using positive microcontact printing

Methods and apparatus for forming and/or enabling interconnection in a substrate. An example embodiment of a method comprises forming a via in the substrate. A preconditioning layer is deposited on the substrate. A catalyst layer is then bound to the preconditioning layer. A conductive material is deposited on the catalyst layer by electro-less deposition to fill the via with the conductive material. Deposition of the conductive material is selectively disabled from coating surfaces of the substrate outside the via. Advantageous alternatives are presented.

Selective filling of electrically conductive vias for three dimensional device structures

Methods for electroless deposition of conductive material on a substrate using in both cases a stamp having a patterned surface which is pressed onto the surface of a substrate for printing the substrate and providing a pattern of a catalyst on the substrate on which metal deposition occurs in the course of electroless deposition by immersing the printed substrate in a plating bath are provided. In one case, the stamp is pretreated to render the pattern of the stamp wettable with a catalytic ink which is transformed to the surface of the substrate. In the other case, a catalytic layer is provided on the surface of the substrate which is patterned by the stamp transferring a resist material onto the catalytic layer so that a subsequent etching process lays open the desired pattern of the catalytic layer for electroless deposition.

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Boucherville, Canada

Matthias Geissler