Barbed spike arrays for mechanical chip attachment

Abstract

We fabricated and tested two types of microstructures for the mechanical attachment of chips to soft surfaces. The microstructures are barbed spikes etched in silicon using DRIE (Deep Reactive Ion Etching). The mechanical attachment of two types of barbed spike arrays was measured on nonbiological materials (Polyethylene foil, Aluminium foil and Parafilm/sup TM/) as well as on human skin. The maximum adhesion force was 1,36 N achieved by a 2/spl times/2 mm/sup 2/ chip containing 64 barbed spikes pressed in Polyethylene foil. Maximum adhesion in skin was 0,54 N. The shape of the two different barb types has significant influence on the detachment forces for nonbiological materials.