Silicon substrate optimization for microarray technology

Abstract

A micro device includes a substrate and a structure configured to bind to an object or a material, or not to bind to an object or material. The structure has a roughness based on a roughness of the object or material. For example, a microarray includes a substrate and a well positioned in the substrate and configured to bind to a type of bead. The well has a roughness based on a roughness of the type of bead to which the well is configured to bind. The roughness of the well is controlled by controlling a position and number of striations in the side of the well. In another example, a moveable component of a micro device may have a roughness different from a roughness of an adjacent component, to reduce the likelihood of the moveable component sticking to the adjacent component.

1 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium whose contents cause at least one processor to perform a method, the method comprising:
 analyzing roughness characteristics of a first surface;   determining desired roughness characteristics of a second surface based on the analysis of the roughness characteristics of the first surface; and   generating surface preparation parameters based on the determined desired roughness characteristics of the second surface; and   forming the second surface based on the generated surface preparation parameters, the second surface being a surface of a substrate.   
     
     
         2 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 1  wherein
 the analyzing roughness characteristics of the first surface comprises identifying roughness characteristics of a first type of microbead; 
 the determining desired roughness characteristics of the second surface comprises determining desired roughness characteristics of a well to bind to the first type of microbead based on the identified roughness characteristics of the type of microbead; and 
 the generating surface preparation parameters based on the determined desired roughness characteristics comprises generating well design parameters based on the determined desired roughness characteristics. 
 
     
     
         3 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 2  wherein the method comprises forming a well in a substrate based on the well design parameters. 
     
     
         4 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 3  wherein the generating well design parameters comprises determining a shape of an opening in a mask and the forming the well in the substrate comprises applying the mask to the substrate and etching the well in the opening in the substrate. 
     
     
         5 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 1  wherein the first surface is another surface of the substrate and the determining the desired roughness characteristics of the second surface comprises determining roughness characteristics dissimilar to the roughness characteristics of the first surface. 
     
     
         6 . A micro device, comprising:
 a substrate; and   a first structure of the substrate, at least a portion of a surface of the first structure having a first plurality of substantially parallel striations wherein a number and a position of the substantially parallel striations is based on one or more desired surface roughness characteristics.   
     
     
         7 . The micro device of  claim 6  wherein the first structure is a well in the substrate configured to bind to a first type of microbead, the at least a portion of the surface of the first structure is an inner surface of the well and the one or more desired surface roughness characteristics comprise one or more roughness characteristics based on roughness characteristics of the first type of microbead to which the well is configured to bind. 
     
     
         8 . The micro device of  claim 6  wherein the first structure is a pillar extending from the substrate configured to bind to a first type of microbead, the at least a portion of the surface of the first structure is an outer surface of the pillar and the one or more desired roughness characteristics comprise one or more roughness characteristics based on roughness characteristics of the first type of microbead to which the pillar is configured to bind. 
     
     
         9 . The micro device of  claim 6  wherein the one or more desired roughness characteristics comprise one or more roughness characteristics based on roughness characteristics of at least a portion of a surface of a second structure of the substrate. 
     
     
         10 . The micro device of  claim 9  wherein a roughness of the at least a portion of the surface of the first structure and the roughness characteristics of the at least a portion of the surface of the second structure are dissimilar. 
     
     
         11 . The micro device of  claim 10  wherein the surface of the second structure has a second plurality of substantially parallel striations, a positioning and a number of the second plurality of striations being different than the positioning and number of the first plurality of striations. 
     
     
         12 . The micro device of  claim 9  wherein the first structure is a moveable component of the micro device. 
     
     
         13 . A system, comprising:
 a substrate; and   a first structure of the substrate, a surface of the first structure having one or more desired surface roughness characteristics based on one or more roughness characteristics of a first type of object.   
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13  wherein the first structure is one of a first plurality of structures configured to bind to the first type of object and the system further comprises:
 logic configured to analyze data related to binding of objects to the first plurality of structures. 
 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14 , comprising:
 a second plurality of structures configured to bind to a second type of object, wherein a surface of each structure in the second plurality of structures has a roughness based on a roughness of the second type of object.   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 13  wherein the first type of object is a type of linking layer. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 13  wherein the first type of object is a first type of moiety of a moiety pair. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 13  wherein the first type of object is a surface of a second structure of the substrate and the one or more desired surface roughness characteristics of the surface of the first structure are dissimilar to the one or more roughness characteristics of the surface of the second structure.