Biochips

From microfluidics to DNA sequencing chips, and from microneedles to neural probes, Atomica offers decades of experience bringing our customers’ biotechnologies to life.

Atomica is proud to partner with innovative companies on missions to cure disease. We bring 20+ years of experience to the design, process development, and volume fabrication of microsystems targeted at life science applications. You could say we know a thing or two because we’ve seen a thing or two. From drug-delivery devices to neural probes, cell sorters to biosensors, DNA synthesis to sequencing, Atomica has the capabilities to bring our customers’ biotechnologies to life.

Applications

Drug Delivery

The days of forcing a patient to adhere to a regimented schedule for a daily medication before or after meals are fading. At the cutting edge of today’s applications, implanted and transdermal bioMEMS devices are enabling remotely configured, automated delivery of drug doses over long time periods.

Atomica’s experience with micro-needles, MEMS reservoirs, and many types of micro-pumps and actuators is a crucial foundation for getting drug-delivery devices to market – faster.

Molecular Diagnostics

Molecular diagnostics determine the presence and the amount of a biological molecular marker (biomarkers such as DNA or protein, as measured through an antigen-binding event or fluorescent or mass signals) that provides information about the presence of a pathogen, an individual’s disease state, risk factors, or treatment effectiveness. An increasing variety of commercial molecular diagnostics products harness the power of microfluidics and bioMEMS to provide rapid, accurate, point-of-care (or even at-home) detection of biomarkers. Excitingly, some of these technologies and products are displacing traditional, slower lab-based analyses.

Atomica brings critical experience and capabilities for manufacturing virtually all types of diagnostic chips. Unlike CMOS fabs, Atomica can handle diverse substrates (Si, glass, piezo materials, III-V, and more), process and deposit non-CMOS materials (such as Au, Ag, Sn, Pt, Ru, and other noble metals, polymers such as parylene, graphene, and even biological agents), and perform a broad array of wafer processing, including deep silicon etches, wafer bonding, atomic layer deposition, and more.

Cell Therapy and Cytometry

We are on the cusp of a revolution in medicine due to the arrival of next-generation cell technologies such as CAR-T and stem-cell therapies. The ability to isolate, culture, manipulate, and genetically re-program specific cell populations is bringing us ever closer to curing cancer and other diseases. These emerging fields require new types of microfluidic devices that identify, sort, process, porate, filter, and move these cells at high speed without damaging them.

Atomica has the capabilities and experience to help innovative companies design, develop, and fabricate microfluidic devices to make life-changing treatments a reality. During cell therapy, cells are delivered via injection to an organ or injury, where they replace or help repair damaged tissue. These cells, which can come from the patient or from another donor, must be sorted and processed to be appropriate for therapy. Read this case study to learn about how Atomica partnered with Miltenyi to develop a gentle, ultrafast microfluidic cell valve that enables cell sorting with high cell purity and viability.

Why Atomica?

  1. Largest US MEMS Foundry

    Atomica serves its customers from a 13-acre, 130,000 ft2 manufacturing campus (including a 30,000 ft2 class 100 cleanroom) in Santa Barbara, California. We operate over 400 sophisticated 150mm and 200mm tools and are ISO 9001 and ITAR certified. This makes us the largest independent MEMS fab in the United States, well-positioned to support the growing demand for domestic production of critical sensors, photonics, and biochips.

  2. Unique collaborative methodology to ensure program success

    At Atomica, we are resolved to help our customers bring their innovations to life using our proven phase-gate process to successfully navigate the challenges of design, development, prototype, scale-up, and high-volume production. Our multi-disciplinary team of scientists and manufacturing engineers tackles the hardest process development and integration challenges with an eye toward manufacturability (DFM). Our methodology entails rigorous project management to optimize resources, mitigate risks, and deliver predictable results.

  3. Extraordinary engineering expertise

    Atomica has over 20 years of experience commercializing technologies that change the future. Our extensive experience spans the full spectrum of MEMS, including photonics, sensors, microfluidic biochips, and other micro components. We have over 20 Phds on-site and we’ve worked on hundreds of programs to date. You could say we’ve seen it all. This experience combined with our volume production facility help ensure customers get to market fast with the highest chance of commercial success.

  4. Exceptional flexibility in materials and project types

    Atomica has a versatile and flexible engagement model. We are able to engage using our standard processes or provide bespoke, custom process development. We will consider programs of many sizes, as long as they hold promise to have an impact on the world once they reach production. Atomica also is able to handle a very broad range of materials providing access to an extensive set of processes and materials unavailable in CMOS fabs, including noble metals, polymers, and virtually any substrate (e.g., silicon, SOI, glass, fused silica, quartz, borosilicate, piezos, and III-V).