BAW sensing and filtration device and related methods

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10330643-B2
Application number	US-201715423141-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 2, 2017
Priority date	Feb 4, 2016
Publication date	Jun 25, 2019
Grant date	Jun 25, 2019

Abstract

A fluidic device incorporating at least one BAW resonator structure (e.g., a biosensing device) and a fluidic passage includes one or more features that provide filtration capability. Certain embodiments include at least one group of pillars extending into the fluidic passage which are arranged between an active region of the at least one BAW resonator structure and at least one fluidic port. Individual pillars are separated from one another by inter-pillar spaces that provide redundant fluid flow paths while preventing passage of obstruction media such as particulate matter, cells, and/or bubbles. Certain embodiments provide porous material arranged in fluid communication with at least one fluidic port and configured to filter contents of fluid supplied thereto. Porous material (e.g., porous membranes) may be provided in a cover structure of a fluidic device or within a filtration cartridge.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A fluidic device comprising:
a base structure comprising: (i) a substrate; and (ii) at least one bulk acoustic wave resonator structure supported by the substrate, the at least one bulk acoustic wave resonator structure including a piezoelectric material, a top side electrode arranged over a portion of the piezoelectric material, and a bottom side electrode arranged below at least a portion of the piezoelectric material, wherein a portion of the piezoelectric material is arranged between the top side electrode and the bottom side electrode to form an active region;
a wall structure arranged over at least a portion of the base structure and defining lateral boundaries of a fluidic passage that is arranged to receive a fluid and contains the active region, wherein the fluidic passage comprises an upstream segment that is upstream of the active region and a downstream segment that is downstream of the active region;
a cover structure arranged over the wall structure and defining an upper boundary of the fluidic passage;
and
a plurality of upstream pillars extending into the fluidic passage and being arranged upstream from the active region, wherein each upstream pillar of the plurality of upstream pillars comprises a height that is at least about 50% of an average height of the fluidic passage upstream of the active region, and adjacent upstream pillars of the plurality of upstream pillars are spaced apart from one another by inter-pillar spaces that enable passage of fluid from the upstream segment of the fluidic passage to a portion of the fluidic passage that contains the active region.

2. The fluidic device of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of upstream pillars extends upward from the base structure.

3. The fluidic device of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of upstream pillars extends downward from the cover structure.

4. The fluidic device of claim 1 , wherein each upstream pillar of the plurality of upstream pillars comprises a height that is at least about 90% of the average height of the fluidic passage upstream of the active region.

5. The fluidic device of claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of downstream pillars extending into the fluidic passage and being arranged downstream from the active region, wherein each downstream pillar of the plurality of downstream pillars comprises a height that is at least about 50% of an average height of the fluidic passage downstream of the active region, and adjacent downstream pillars of the plurality of downstream pillars are spaced apart from one another by inter-pillar spaces that enable passage of fluid from (i) the portion of the fluidic passage that contains the active region to (ii) the downstream segment of the fluidic passage.

6. The fluidic device of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of upstream pillars comprises a first group of upstream pillars including a first average inter-pillar spacing distance, and a second group of upstream pillars including a second average inter-pillar spacing distance, wherein the first average inter-pillar spacing distance is greater than the second average inter-pillar spacing distance, and the first group of upstream pillars is arranged between the first fluidic port and the second group of upstream pillars.

7. The fluidic device of claim 6 , further comprising a plurality of downstream pillars extending into the fluidic passage and being arranged downstream from the active region, wherein each downstream pillar of the plurality of downstream pillars comprises a height that is at least about 50% of an average height of the fluidic passage downstream of the active region, and the plurality of downstream pillars includes at least one group of downstream pillars with an inter-pillar spacing distance that is less than the first average inter-pillar spacing distance.

8. The fluidic device of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of upstream pillars comprises at least one of a photosensitive material, photoresist, or epoxy.

9. The fluidic device of claim 1 , wherein the piezoelectric material comprises a c-axis having an orientation distribution that is predominantly non-parallel to normal of a face of the substrate.

10. The fluidic device of claim 1 , wherein:
the fluidic passage further comprises an intermediate segment arranged downstream of the upstream segment;
the plurality of upstream pillars is arranged within the upstream segment;
the intermediate segment contains the active region; and
the upstream segment comprises a greater cross-sectional area than the intermediate segment.

11. The fluidic device of claim 1 , further comprising at least one functionalization material arranged over at least a portion of the active region.

12. A method for biological or chemical sensing, the method comprising:
supplying a fluid containing an analyte into the fluidic passage of the fluidic device according to claim 11 , wherein said supplying is configured to cause at least a portion of the fluid to pass through the inter-pillar spaces and to cause at least some of the analyte to bind to at least one functionalization material;
inducing a bulk acoustic wave in the active region; and
sensing a change in at least one of an amplitude-magnitude property, a frequency property, or a phase property of the at least one bulk acoustic wave resonator structure to indicate at least one of presence or quantity of target species bound to the at least one functionalization material.

13. A fluidic device comprising:
a base structure comprising: (i) a substrate; and (ii) at least one bulk acoustic wave resonator structure supported by the substrate, the at least one bulk acoustic wave resonator structure including a piezoelectric material, a top side electrode arranged over a portion of the piezoelectric material, and a bottom side electrode arranged below at least a portion of the piezoelectric material, wherein a portion of the piezoelectric material is arranged between the top side electrode and the bottom side electrode to form an active region;
a wall structure arranged over at least a portion of the base structure and defining lateral boundaries of a fluidic passage that is arranged to receive a fluid and contains the active region;
a cover structure arranged over the wall structure and defining an upper boundary of the fluidic passage;
a first fluidic port at least partially defined in at least one of the base structure, the wall structure, or the cover structure and arranged in fluid communication with the fluidic passage upstream of the active region;
a second fluidic port at least partially defined in at least one of the base structure, the wall structure, or the cover structure and arranged in fluid communication with the fluidic passage downstream of the active region; and
a plurality of upstream pillars extending into the fluidic passage and being arranged between the first fluidic port and the active region, wherein each upstream pillar of the plurality of upstream pillars comprises a height that is at least about 50% of an average height of the fluidic passage upstream of the active region, and adjacent upstream pillars of the plurality of upstream pillars are spaced apart from one another by inter-pillar spaces that enable passage of fluid between the first fluidic port and a portion of the fluidic passage that contains the active region.

14. The fluidic device of claim 13 , wherein the first fluidic port and the second fluidic port are disposed in the cover structure.

Assignees

• Qorvo Us Inc

Inventors

• Rivas Rio
• Gustafson Vincent K

Classifications

• G01N2291/0426

  Bulk waves, e.g. quartz crystal microbalance, torsional waves · CPC title

• G01N2291/015

  Attenuation, scattering · CPC title

• G01N2291/012

  Phase angle · CPC title

• G01N29/022 Primary

  Fluid sensors based on microsensors, e.g. quartz crystal-microbalance [QCM], surface acoustic wave [SAW] devices, tuning forks, cantilevers, flexural plate wave [FPW] devices (microdevices per se B81B) · CPC title

• G01N2291/0256

  Adsorption, desorption, surface mass change, e.g. on biosensors · CPC title