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Santa Barbara, CA, 11 February 2008
Nature Journal has recognized the collaborative
effort between Innovative Micro Technology (IMT) and the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT) on the weighing of single cells and
single nanoparticles in fluid with sub-femtogram resolution. The
IMT-MIT collaboration was among eighteen research papers published
in Nature throughout 2007 that were selected as “favourites”
by the prominent scientists and technologists serving as Nature’s
manuscript editors. Designed by MIT with design for manufacturability
by IMT, the advanced function and ultra-high sensitivity of the
device were made possible by manufacturing prowess developed by
IMT, including vacuum wafer-level packaging. The device is currently
in the process of being commercialized.
Nature summarized the significance of the work:
“Tiny particles — molecules included — can be weighed
with remarkably high resolution using nanoscale mechanical resonators.
But not in the presence of fluids, which dampen the vibrations that
make the system work. This rules out practical applications such
as medical diagnostics or environmental monitoring. But here is
an ingenious way around the problem: ‘hide’ the fluid
inside the resonator. A vacuum-packaged resonator holds the solution
with particles of interest in microfluidic channels, and weighs
single nanoparticles and bacteria at subfemtogram resolution.”
The full article can be found under T P Burg et al. Nature 446,
1066–1069 (26 April 2007).
About Innovative MicroTechnology
IMT is the world’s leading MEMS contract manufacturer/foundry
partner with a diversified range of customers and products. IMT
was formed in 2000, specifically to produce MEMS (micro-electromechanical
systems) devices. IMT’s 130,000 sq ft facility contains a 30,000
sq ft Class 100 clean room/fab, the largest and best-equipped independent
MEMS fab in the world. The company was built for volume manufacturing,
and provides complete foundry services from design through production.
IMT currently has >25 customers in diverse applications, including
relays and relay arrays, drug discovery, drug delivery, biomedical
implants and cell purifiers, microfluidics, displays, inertial navigation,
optical telecommunications, printing, various sensors, night vision,
IR emitters, telephone/DSL switching, RF devices, power management,
and others. IMT’s overriding goal is to partner with companies
to develop and manufacturer products based on MEMS technology.
Contact Monteith Heaton: phone (805) 681-2852; fax
(805) 967-2677, monte@imtmems.com,
or visit www.imtmems.com.
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