Microdevice arrays formed by magnetic assembly

摘要

Microdevices containing a predetermined preferential axis of magnetization are disposed in an array having discreet regions. Under influence of a magnetic field, the microdevices can have at least twelve discrete orientations, and can advantageously be flipped upside down in place. Microdevices can be coded in a manner that supports a coding space of at least 102, 103, 106 or even 1010 or more choices, and can include one or more chemically reactive sites. The regions can be defined by long and short bars, in which microdevices span gaps between the longer bars, and the shorter bars measure less than 60% of such gaps. Preferred embodiments are also provided to produce microfabricated microdevices for magnetic assembly-based arraying.

主权项

1. A magnetic arraying device, comprising:
an arraying chip comprising a substrate having embedded magnetizable magnetic elements forming an array of discrete regions, wherein each element exerts magnetic forces as induced by an external magnetic field, and wherein the magnetic elements comprise alternating longer and shorter magnetic bars; wherein the shorter bars are each positioned in a gap between the ends of adjacent longer bars along the long axis of the longer bars, at least some of the longer bars having an average length of less than 500 μM, and at least some of the shorter bars having an average length of less than 50% of the longest bars; and an arrayed plurality of microdevices placed upon the arraying chip, wherein at least some of the microdevices comprise a magnetic bar having a length greater than the gap between ends of adjacent long bars in the arraying chip, wherein the microdevices are configured to be moved on the substrate by a field created by the longer bars and shorter bars, and wherein at least some of the microdevices further comprise at least one of a chemically active site, a magnetic coding space, mutually distinct polymers, or mutually distinct codes.