Silicon-Based Chemical Microsensors and Microsystems

A three-dimensional modular concept for miniaturization of flow systems for chemical analysis is presented. The system uses silicon micromachined flow manifolds and pumps in combination with electrochemical sensors or optical detection. Applications range from simple ion concentration measurements with ISFETs to a multi-step chemical analysis of phosphate. Miniaturization of the flow manifolds leads to simply constructed, compact systems in which reagent consumption is substantially reduced.