Polymeric cantilever arrays for biosensing applications

We report the fabrication of arrays of polymeric cantilevers for biochemistry applications. The cantilevers are fabricated in the polymer SU-8. The use of a polymer as the component material for the cantilevers provides the sensors with very high sensitivity due to convenient mechanical material properties. The fabrication process is based on spin coating of the photosensitive polymer and near-ultraviolet exposure. The method allows obtaining well-controlled and uniform mechanical properties of the cantilevers. The elastic constant of the cantilevers was measured, and their dynamic response was studied. Characterization of the devices shows that they are suitable for both static and dynamic measurements for biochemical detection in either air or liquid environments. The sensor was applied to monitoring of the immobilization process of cystamine on a gold-coated SU-8 cantilever.