Microfluidic device for triggered chip transience

This paper presents the fabrication and testing of a microfluidic device for the triggered destruction (transience) of microchips. The device consists of a thin film array of sealed reservoirs patterned on a polymer film. Each reservoir encloses a corrosive chemical agent which upon release dissolves the surface of a microchip placed beneath. When transience is activated, an integrated micro-heater melts the bottom of the reservoirs thus releasing the chemical agent, which in a matter of minutes destroys key layers on the underlying electronic/sensor chip. Each reservoir consists of a 16 μm-tall cavity holding 1 μL/cm² of 1000:1 BHF. The measured energy required to burst open a filled reservoir was ~35mJ/cm² when the device rests on top of a glass substrate and ~100mJ/cm² when the device rests on top of a 0.5 μm-layer of silicon dioxide on a 0.5 mm silicon wafer.