Production of miniaturized biosensors through laser-induced forward transfer

Abstract

Lasers are adequate tools for the production of patterns with high spatial resolution owing to the high focusing power of their radiation. Laser induced forward transfer (LIFT) is a direct-writing technique allowing the deposition of tiny amounts of material from a donor thin film through the action of a pulsed laser beam. A laser pulse is focused onto the donor thin film through a transparent support, what results in the transference of a small area of the film onto a receptor substrate that is placed parallel to the film-support system. Although LIFT was originally developed to operate with solid films, it has been demonstrated that deposition is also viable from liquid films. In this case, a small amount of liquid is directly ejected from the film onto the receptor substrate, where it rests deposited in the form of a microdroplet. This makes LIFT adequate for biosensors preparation, since biological solutions can be transferred onto solid substrates to produce micrometric patterns of biomolecules. In this case, the liquid solvent acts as transport vector of the biomolecules. The viability of the technique has been demonstrated through the preparation of functional miniaturized biosensors showing similar performances and higher scales of integration than those prepared through more conventional techniques.