Towa ds b ea homics wi h MEMS-based mic oplasma gene a o s
En ique Escobedo-Cousin1, Ka olina Milenko1, T ang-Anh Nguyen-Le2, Sa adal Du a2, Do Chi Huong
Hoang1, Simone Zone i1, Alessand o Libe ale1, Hjø u Gu o msson1, Rica do Fe ei a3, Ba Koo e2,
C is ian D'Alessand o2, Eliza e a Ve eshchagina1
1 SINTEF Digi al, Oslo, No way
2 RespiQ, Respi o B.V., Leiden, The Ne he lands
3 uRobop ics, Po ugal
Biochemical de ec ion based on plasma op ical emissions has shown new po en ial use cases in he
analysis o ola ile compounds in b ea h, making i an a ac i e ool o c i ical applica ions in li e
sciences and medicine. This s udy explo es he po en ial o mic oplasmas o b ea h analysis,
speci ically a ge ing bioma ke s o ch onic illnesses such as ch onic obs uc i e pulmona y disease
(COPD), as hma and some ypes o cance . De ec ing hese bioma ke s may impac heal hca e
echnologies and poin -o -ca e diagnos ics signi ican ly, imp o ing quali y o li e o pa ien s while
lowe ing he p essu e on heal hca e p o ide s. In eg a ing his de ec ion me hod wi h mic o-
elec omechanical sys ems (MEMS) pa es he way o scalable and po able solu ions. A key ad an age
o mic oplasmas is i s compa ibili y wi h MEMS ab ica ion, allowing o compac de ices sui able o
bo h emo e and a -home moni o ing.
We p esen he design and ab ica ion o a mic oplasma de ice based on dielec ic ba ie discha ge
(DBD), speci ically ailo ed o b ea h analysis. The de ice s uc u e includes hin ilm aluminium
elec odes pa e ned on o a silicon subs a e, which is elec ically isola ed using silicon oxide, silicon
ni ide o s acked laye s o hese ma e ials. The subs a e su ace can be la o s uc u ed wi h 50 x
50 µm² mic oca i ies be ween he elec odes o enhance plasma con inemen . A dielec ic coa ing
p o ec s he mic oelec ode om deg ada ion du ing plasma exposu e, ex ending he de ice’s
li e ime, while con ac pads a e open o elec ical in e connec s. The DBD con igu a ion can also be
scaled up o linea a ays o a ious sizes; in his s udy we examine a ays o 3, 7 and 13 mic oplasma
gene a o s.
We analyse a ious design and ab ica ion pa ame e s and hei impac on plasma igni ion, de ice
s abili y and easibili y o con inuous op ical eadou . We use echnology compu e -aided design
(TCAD) modelling o in es iga e and op imise ma e ial selec ions, laye hicknesses and ab ica ion
pa ame e s ha in luence he mic oplasma pe o mance. This wo k is pe o med wi hin he EIC
Pa h inde p ojec B ea hSense h ps://www.b ea hsense.eu/.
