• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2013.05a
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• pp.149-150
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• 2013

• KIEE International Transactions on Electrophysics and Applications
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• v.4C no.4
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• pp.160-164
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• 2004

In this study, we demonstrate for the first time a bio-inspired Cell-Microsystem to manipulate and detect living cells. Cultured retinal pigment epithelial cell line (ARPE-19) was directed to grow in a pre-defined Cell-Microsystem. The three-dimensional micropillars of 5 ${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ in height and diameter of the Cell-Microsystem were fabricated. Inhibited DNA synthesis and transformed cell morphology were observed throughout the culture period. The demonstration of manipulating and detecting living cells by the surface topography is a new approach, and it will be very useful for the future design of cell-based biosensors and bioactuators.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.171-178
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• 2014

In this study, the apparent contact angle on the hydrophilic/hydrophobic surfaces with micropillars was studied. The previous researches showed that the Wenzel equation and the Cassie-Baxter equation were thermodynamically derived for the rough hydrophilic/hydrophobic surfaces and generally referenced on the field of wetting phenomena. For the verification of both equations, the apparent contact angle on the hydrophilic/hydrophobic surfaces with micro-pillars was measured. In the comparison between the measured and estimated apparent contact angles with the equations, the differences between the apparent contact angles were analyzed. Conclusively, the available range and limitation of theoretical equations were investigated and further researches about the apparent contact angle on the rough surfaces were proposed.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.28 no.8 s.227
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• pp.1135-1139
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• 2004

This paper presents a microextractor for the separation of DNA molecules by their sizes. The DNA microextractor immobilizes the DNA molecules of specific size in the micropillar array by adjusting the period of the crossed electric field, thus providing a starting-point independent target DNA extraction method without separation process monitoring. The DNA microextractor has been fabricated by a three-mask micromachining process. The velocity of three different DNA molecules has been measured at the electric field of E=5V/0.8cm in the fabricated DNA microextractor, resulting in the reorientation times of $4.80{\pm}0.44sec,\;7.12{\pm}0.75sec$, and $9.88{\pm}0.30sec$ for ${\lambda}$ DNA, micrococcus DNA, and T4 DNA, respectively. T4 DNA is trapped in the micropillar array when the crossed electric field of 5V/0.8cm is applied alternately at a 10 second time interval. The present DNA microextractor filters the DNA in a specific size range by adjusting the magnitude and/or the period of the crossed electric field applied in the micropillar array.

• BioChip Journal
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.294-303
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• 2018

Shear stress occurs in flowing liquids, especially at the interface of a flowing liquid and a stationary solid phase. Thus, it occurs inside the artery system of the human body, where it is responsible for a number of biological functions. The shear stress level generally remains less than $70dyne/cm^2$ in the whole circulatory system, but in the stenotic arteries, which are constricted by 95%, a shear stress greater than $1,000dyne/cm^2$ can be reached. Methods of researching the effects of shear stress on cells are of large interest to understand these processes. Here, we show the development of a microfluidic device for generating shear stress gradients. The performance of the shear stress gradient generator was theoretically simulated prior to experiments. Through simple manipulations of the liquid flow, the shape and magnitude of the shear stress gradients can be manipulated. Our microfluidic device consisted of five portions divided by arrays of micropillars. The generated shear stress gradient has five distinct levels at 8.38, 6.55, 4.42, 2.97, and $2.24dyne/cm^2$. Thereafter, an application of the microfluidic device was demonstrated testing the effect of shear stress on human umbilical vein endothelial cells.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.50
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• pp.17.1-17.9
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• 2020

Recent advances in fabrication have enabled radial-junction architectures for cost-effective and high-performance optoelectronic devices. Unlike a planar PN junction, a radial-junction geometry maximizes the optical interaction in the three-dimensional (3D) structures, while effectively extracting the generated carriers via the conformal PN junction. In this paper, we report characterizations of radial PN junctions that consist of p-type Si micropillars created by deep reactive-ion etching (DRIE) and an n-type layer formed by phosphorus gas diffusion. We use electron-beam induced current (EBIC) microscopy to access the 3D junction profile from the sidewall of the pillars. Our EBIC images reveal uniform PN junctions conformally constructed on the 3D pillar array. Based on Monte-Carlo simulations and EBIC modeling, we estimate local carrier separation/collection efficiency that reflects the quality of the PN junction. We find the EBIC efficiency of the pillar array increases with the incident electron beam energy, consistent with the EBIC behaviors observed in a high-quality planar PN junction. The magnitude of the EBIC efficiency of our pillar array is about 70% at 10 kV, slightly lower than that of the planar device (≈ 81%). We suggest that this reduction could be attributed to the unpassivated pillar surface and the unintended recombination centers in the pillar cores introduced during the DRIE processes. Our results support that the depth-dependent EBIC approach is ideally suitable for evaluating PN junctions formed on micro/nanostructured semiconductors with various geometry.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.106-112
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• 2014

Here, we demonstrated the optimum design of pillar microstructure for efficient microdroplet merging. The microfluidic device mainly consisted of programmable microvalves and pillar microstructures. Based on the system, aqueous droplets were continuously generated at T-junction using actuating of integrated programmable microvalaves under the immiscible continuous fluid (mineral oil containing 0.5 wt% Span 80). The principle of merging process depended on the competitive correlation of hydraulic pressure of continuous phase and Laplace pressure of the droplet. We found that the design of the micropillars controls above two pressures. Finally, it was demonstrated that the microfluidic system could be able to efficient biochemical reaction. We expect that the microfluidic system is useful analytical or reaction tools in fundamental science, biotechnology, and chemical engineering.

• JSTS:Journal of Semiconductor Technology and Science
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.161-165
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• 2007

In this paper, mesoporous Pt on micro pillars Pt electrode is newly designed, fabricated, and characterized on silicon substrate for non-enzymatic electrochemical sensor micro-chip integrated with CMOS readout circuitry. The fabricated micro/nano Pt electrode has cylindrical hexangular arrayed nano Pt pores with a diameter of 3.2 nm which is formed on top of the micro pillars Pt electrode with approximately $6{\mu}m$ in diameter, $6{\mu}m$ in space, and $50{\mu}m$ in height. The measured current responses of the fabricated plane Pt, mesoporous Pt, and mesoporous Pt on the micro pillar Pt electrodes are approximately $9.9nA/mm^2,\;6.72{\mu}A/mm^2,\;and\;7.67{\mu}A/mm^2$ in 10mM glucose solution with 0.1M phosphate buffered saline (PBS) solution, respectively. In addition, the measured current responses of the fabricated plane Pt, mesoporous Pt, and mesoporous Pt on the micro pillar Pt electrodes are approximately $0.15{\mu}A/mm^2,\;0.56{\mu}A/mm^2,\;and\;0.74{\mu}A/mm^2$ in 0.1mM ascorbic acid (AA) solution with 0.1M phosphate buffered saline (PBS) solution, respectively. This experimental results show that the proposed micro/nano Pt electrode is highly sensitive and promising for CMOS integrated non-enzymatic electrochemical sensor applications. Since the micro-pillar Pt electrode can also be utilized with a micro-fluidic mixer in the sensor chip, the sensor chip can be much smaller, cheaper, and easier to be fabricated.