Scientific Highlights and News
The EIPBN 2021 Best Journal Paper Award was given to the paper "Hybrid structures by direct writing lithography – tuning the contrast and surface topography of grayscale photoresist with nanoimprint", J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 39 (2021) 052603 (9 pp), with the authors S. Xie, J. Erjawetz, C. Schuster, and H. Schift. It was chosen from papers presented at the 64th International Conference on Electron, Ion, and Photon Beam Technology and Nanofabrication and published in JVST B. It was the first paper that presented novel work of the new direct laser writing tool DWL 66+ that was purchased in the framework of ANAXAM. It combined established nanoimprint lithography with grayscale photolithography. Helmut Schift, as corresponding author, received the award together with Sijia Xie, the first author and presenter at EIPBN, who was postdoc in Helmut Schift's group up to May 2021.
Poster Prize for Marcin Gorzny at the Swiss Nanoconvention 2017
Dr. Marcin Gorzny, Post-Doc at LMN in the PSI career return program recieved a poster prize at the Swiss Nanoconvention 2017 for his contribution entitled: "Silicon chip as lipid membrane holder for serial crystallography experiments".
Contact-less micro-polishing
A new method of material modification using 172 nm UV photons enables to fabricate ultra-smooth and self-optimized polymer surfaces. The method, published in Advanced Materials Technologies, was used in the production of high quality micro-optics to remove typical process flaws after a 2-photon-lithography process.
Light-switching of enzymatic activity in functionalized polymer brushes
UV- and visible light-induced switching of enzymatic activity has been demonstrated using surface-grafted polymer brushes functionalized with microperoxidase MP-11 and spiropyran mojeties. Integration into an optofluidic device allowed reversible switching of the enzymatic activity under flow.
Technology award for microneedle-optofluidic sensor System
Sahan Ranamukhaarachchi, PhD student from UBC in Vancouver, won the 2016 "Brian L. Barge Award for Excellence in Microsystems Integration" for his work on a biosensing platform with integrated hollow microneedles carried out at PSI in 2015 in collaboration with Dr. Victor Cadarso and Dr. Celestino Padeste.
Therapeutic drug monitoring in sub-nanoliter volumes
A promising system for painless and minimally-invasive therapeutic drug monitoring has been demonstrated. The proposed device combines biofunctionalized hollow microneedles with an optofluidic system to measure drug concentrations in volumes as small as 0.6 nL.
