Coulter Project Timeline

Introduction:  Fibroblasts: Dermal fibroblasts are cells within the dermis layer of skin which are responsible for generating connective tissue and allowing the skin to recover from injury. A fibroblast is a type of biological cell that synthesizes the extracellular matrix and collagen, produces the structural framework (stroma) for animal tissues, and plays a critical role in wound healing. Fibroblasts are…

I posted previously about an issue we have with needing to strip the native oxide from the sacrificial silicon layer prior to performing the through-pore etch with XeF2 that enables separation of the oxide membrane from the wafer substrate.  The issue is that the membrane is generally attacked by whatever etch method is used to…

Recently, SiMPore has been exploring alternate ways for depositing our film stack.  We’ve finished our initial testing of a plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposited film by Rogue Valley (OR), and it appears that the pore formation process is inhibited with the standard 1000 C RTP 100 C/s anneal. The most striking difference (besides the difference in…

Introduction When concerning the issue of adherence on any substrate, the main two interactions that matter most are that of the cell interacting with the basement membrane (whether cell produced or artificially added) or the interaction between the protein based basement membrane and the substrate providing structure for cell culture; in our case SiO2 membranes….

From my last two posts (Anodic Bonding, Ozone Bonding), it is clear that we have some sort of bonding going on between the freestanding membrane and the posts intended to support the membrane. However, we do not understand the nature of the transfer. To gain more insight into this process, I took more SEMs of…