Materials research courts biotechnology

December 3, 2003 | Source: EE Times

Biomaterials presentations are peppering the weeklong series of research reports at the annual Materials Research Society meeting held in Boston. Since MRS is involved in virtually every area of modern industry and technology, its shift in emphasis from inorganic to organic and biological processes may suggest a trend for society as a whole.

Key developments:

  • MEMS will play a large role in implantable therapeutic devices as sensors and actuators, and for electrical stimulation of tissue.
  • A biocompatible form of silicon, Biosilicon, can be used for drug delivery, zapping tumor cells with targeted radioactive “seeds” and electronic fabrics that merge with tissue.
  • DNA can be used as a catalyst for creating complex three-dimensional structures at the nanometer scale.
  • Rapidly growing molecular-imprint technology uses polymer films as a pliable template for biological molecules. For example, protein molecules of interest are pressed into a polymer film and then removed, leaving a physical mold of the molecule’s shape.
  • A spin-off technique has produced nanoimprint lithography for silicon VLSI production that have recently reached market. Those systems can produce circuits at feature sizes beyond current optical lithography methods with the same parallel throughput advantage for manufacturing. Polymer films are imprinted with silicon templates, created by electron-beam lithography and then hardened to create etch masks.