Monolithic fabrication of wireless miniaturized quartz crystal microbalance (QCM-R) array for biochemical sensing

We report on a novel wireless quartz crystal microbalance sensor array with integrated micro coils for remote readout (QCM-R). It consists of miniaturized quartz crystal microbalances solely fabricated by microfabrication batch processes including wet chemical thinning of quartz membranes, electroplating of micro coils through lithographic masks and via interconnections through the quartz substrate. Measurements with varying distance between QCM-R and readout coil showed the resonant frequency independence of the coupling. Recent experiments with immobilized Protein A and the adsorption of its antibody proved the excellent performance of the system.