Described herein are nanopore devices as well as methods for assembling a nanopore device including one or more nanopores that can be used to detect molecules such as nucleic acids, amino acids (proteins), and the like. Specifically, a nanopore device includes an insulating layer that reduces electrical noise and thereby improves the sensing resolution of the one or more nanopores integrated within the nanopore device.

Making alkali metal vapor cells includes: providing a preform wafer that includes cell cavities in a cavity layer; providing a sealing wafer having a cover layer and transmission apertures; disposing a deposition assembly on the sealing wafer; disposing an alkali metal precursor in the deposition assembly; disposing the sealing wafer on the preform wafer; aligning the transmission apertures with the cell cavities; subjecting the alkali metal precursor to a reaction stimulus; producing alkali metal vapor in the deposition assembly; communicating the alkali metal vapor to the cell cavities; receiving, in the cell cavities, the alkali metal vapor from the transmission apertures; producing an alkali metal condensate in the cell cavity; moving the sealing wafer such that the cover layer encapsulates the alkali metal condensate in the cell cavities; and bonding the sealing wafer to the preform wafer to make individually sealed alkali metal vapor cells in the preform wafer.

A method for producing a system, including a first microelectromechanical element and a second microelectromechanical element, including the following: providing, a substrate, having the first microelectromechanical element and the second microelectromechanical element, and a cap element, a getter material being situated on the substrate in a first region in a surrounding environment of the first microelectromechanical element and/or on the cap element in a first corresponding region; situating the cap element on the substrate using a wafer bonding technique so that a sealed first chamber is formed that contains the first microelectromechanical element and the first region and/or the first corresponding region, a sealed second chamber being formed that contains the second microelectromechanical element; producing an opening in the second chamber; and sealing the opening at a first ambient pressure, in particular a first gas pressure.

A microfluidic device, a diagnostic device including the microfluidic device and a method for making the microfluidic device are provided. The microfluidic device includes: (i) a transparent substrate comprising a cavity, the cavity opening up to a top of the transparent substrate; (ii) a transparent layer covering the cavity, and (iii) a semiconductor substrate over the transparent layer and the transparent substrate, wherein the semiconductor substrate comprises a through hole overlaying the cavity and exposing the transparent layer.

Described herein are nanopore devices as well as methods for assembling a nanopore device including one or more nanopores that can be used to detect molecules such as nucleic acids, amino acids (proteins), and the like. Specifically, a nanopore device includes an insulating layer that reduces electrical noise and thereby improves the sensing resolution of the one or more nanopores integrated within the nanopore device.

An optical element includes an optically transparent substrate of alkali containing glass and a coating on a surface, the coating enabling anodic bonding of the alkali containing glass within an area of the surface that is covered with the coating and with the anodic bond forming at the outer surface of the coating.

A MEMS pressure sensor includes a first plate with a hole on a diaphragm bonded to the first plate around its rim with the diaphragm positioned over the hole. An isolation frame is bonded to the diaphragm and a second plate with a pillar is bonded to the isolation frame around its rim to form a cavity such that the end of the pillar in the cavity is proximate a surface of the diaphragm. The diaphragm and second plate form a capacitive sensor which changes output upon deflection of the diaphragm relative to the second plate.

In a MEMS device, an oxide layer is disposed between first and second semiconductor layers and MEMS resonator is formed within a cavity in the first semiconductor layer. A first electrically conductive feature functionally coupled to the MEMS resonator is exposed at a surface of the first semiconductor layer, and an insulating region is exposed at the surface of the first semiconductor layer adjacent the first electrically conductive feature. A semiconductor cover layer is bonded to the surface of the first semiconductor layer to hermetically seal the MEMS resonator within the cavity. A second electrically conductive feature extends through the semiconductor cover layer to contact the first electrically conductive feature, and an isolation trench extends through the semiconductor cover layer to the insulating region to electrically isolate a conductive path formed by the first and second electrically conductive features.

According to the present invention, since a silicon body itself supporting first and second glass substrates also has a role of an electric heating device, the temperature of the inside of a through-part can be maintained to be constant. In addition, since it is unnecessary to comprise a separate electric heating device such as a heater or to form an additional heating pattern in order to control the temperature of the inside of the through-part, a process for manufacturing a vapor cell can be simplified. According to the present invention, only a reactive material in a gas state and a buffer gas can be injected into a sealed container without the intervention of other materials, and the size of the sealed container can be reduced since it is unnecessary to prepare e separate space for mounting a pill of the reaction material in a vapor cell region itself.

A capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (CMUT) and methods of forming the same are disclosed herein. In one implementation, the CMUT comprises a glass substrate having a cavity; a patterned metal bottom electrode situated within the cavity of the glass substrate; and a vibrating plate comprising at least a conducting layer, wherein the vibrating plate is anodically bonded to the glass substrate to form an air-tight seal between the vibrating plate and the substrate and wherein a pressure inside the cavity is less than atmospheric pressure (i.e., a vacuum). In another implementation, the CMUT comprises a glass substrate with Through-Glass-Via (TGV) interconnects, wherein a metal electrode is electrically connected to a TGV and wherein said metal electrode can be in the bottom of a cavity of the glass substrate or on the vibrating plate.