Microsystems & Nanoengineering最新文献

{"title":"Biologically motivated magnetic microfluidic rheostats for precise and scalable flow control.","authors":"Jiaqi Miao, Chenglin Jiang, Jingxuan Li, Alan C H Tsang","doi":"10.1038/s41378-026-01430-x","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41378-026-01430-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Precise regulation of hydraulic resistance is essential for controlling flow distribution, particle transport, and chemical synthesis in microfluidics. Despite frequent comparisons between microfluidic networks and electronic circuits, components analogous to electronic rheostats for high-precision continuous resistance tuning remain absent, with flow regulation typically relying on microvalves with discrete open/closed states and external flow-control hardware. Inspired by geometry-modulated flow resistance in heart valves, we introduce magnetic microfluidic rheostats composed of soft magnetic cantilever arrays, whose field-controlled bending modulates the hydraulic diameter to achieve stable and continuous resistance tuning with a minimum measured increment of ~1.7%. Using external permanent magnets instead of complex actuation systems, the rheostat enables low-cost, energy-efficient operation while maintaining high precision. Incorporating the rheostat into a Wheatstone fluidic bridge allows sub-10 µm/s flow balancing and precise microparticle manipulation. Moreover, rheostats with tailored magnetic responses enable one-to-many control under a single magnetic field, allowing multiple channels to be regulated synchronously or asynchronously. This approach simplifies system architecture compared with conventional one-to-one actuation, while maintaining 1-2% composition accuracy across multi-component streams. These results establish microfluidic rheostats as dedicated resistance regulators that expand the functional toolkit of microfluidics for scalable, high-precision manipulation and synthesis.</p>","PeriodicalId":18560,"journal":{"name":"Microsystems & Nanoengineering","volume":"12 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":11.1,"publicationDate":"2026-09-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148891994","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"High-precision hyperdimensional computing enabled by in-memory computing using high-polarization ferroelectric Hf_0.5Zr_0.5O₂ capacitors.","authors":"Ella Paasio, Simon Thomann, Anika Anu, Xinye Li, Rikhard Ranta, Padma Srivari, Safdar Muhammad, Soumen Mazumder, Jahra Mariam, Andrea Padovani, Hussam Amrouch, Gaurav Thareja, Sayani Majumdar","doi":"10.1038/s41378-026-01429-4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41378-026-01429-4","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>We demonstrate high-precision hyperdimensional computing using an in-memory computing (IMC) architecture based on ferroelectric Hf_0.5Zr_0.5O₂ (HZO) capacitors. By exploiting the high polarization charge density of CMOS back-end-compatible HZO, we achieved 32 well-separated and linearly programmable intermediate states in 10-nm-thick capacitors making them suitable as capacitive IMC elements. In recent times, capacitive IMC emerged as a promising energy- and latency-efficient route for data-intensive computing tasks. However, compute-in-memory elements require non-volatile, reproducible, and multi-bit operation. In this work, we show that through optimized device fabrication without vacuum break between oxide and nitride depositions and tailored thermal engineering, the HZO capacitors can exhibit high remanent polarization (2P_r = 75 µC/cm²). Structural studies highlight a high orthorhombic phase fraction and clean HZO/TiN interface. The intermediate polarization states exhibit controllable, linear, and reproducible capacitance modulation via voltage-driven polarization switching, enabling reliable multi-bit device operation and non-destructive readout. Leveraging these 5-bit ferroelectric capacitors, it is possible to store 15-bit numerical values using only three capacitors to implement high-precision capacitive IMC in a hyperdimensional computing task, achieving improved inference accuracy of 92.3% and 2.3x reduced areal footprint compared to binary encoding. These results highlight the importance of advanced materials engineering to achieve high bit-precision and state linearity in ferroelectric capacitors for scalable capacitive in-memory computing.</p>","PeriodicalId":18560,"journal":{"name":"Microsystems & Nanoengineering","volume":"12 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":11.1,"publicationDate":"2026-09-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148892002","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"In vivo magnetic recording of neuronal action potentials using a differential TMR magnetrode.","authors":"Yi Wang, Jin Shan, Chenglong Zhang, Zhenhu Jin, Yilin Song, Xinxia Cai, Jiamin Chen","doi":"10.1038/s41378-026-01421-y","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41378-026-01421-y","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Neuronal magnetic signal recording intrinsically provides vector information and tissue transparency, offering a potential route to overcome the spatial resolution limitations of conventional electrophysiological recordings. However, in situ detection of neuronal magnetic signals at the cellular level remains highly challenging due to the limited sensitivity of microscale magnetic sensors and the presence of background noise. Here, we report a high-sensitivity implantable differential magnetrode based on a dual-pinned magnetic tunnel junction (TMR). By implementing a spatially decoupled differential architecture with a long baseline (5 mm), together with a sensitivity dynamically matched interface circuit, the device effectively suppresses environmental common-mode noise and achieves an ultralow detection limit of 68 pT/√Hz at 1 kHz. Benefiting from an optimized bidirectional SiO₂/Si₃N₄ protective interface, the device exhibits good biocompatibility and stability. Using this magnetrode, we detected action potential-related magnetic signals in the CA1 region of the rat hippocampus. Crucially, we experimentally observed polarity reversals in spike waveforms that correlate with neuronal spatial orientation, demonstrating the potential of magnetic recording to distinguish neural current directionality based on vector information. This work provides a novel sensing tool for microscale neuroscience research and offers a new technical pathway for resolving the spatial topology of complex neural circuits.</p>","PeriodicalId":18560,"journal":{"name":"Microsystems & Nanoengineering","volume":"12 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":11.1,"publicationDate":"2026-09-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148892024","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Stress redistributing interdigitated architectures inspired by the diabolical ironclad beetle for stretchable systems.","authors":"Sieb Chanchamnan, Weiyi Wang, Se Rim Jang, Il Won Suh","doi":"10.1038/s41378-026-01434-7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41378-026-01434-7","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Flexible and stretchable structural systems require geometries capable of maintaining mechanical stability under repeated deformation while minimizing localized stress concentration. In this study, a beetle elytra-inspired flexible architecture based on the interdigitated suture geometry of the diabolical ironclad beetle was developed and compared with conventional Peano curve-based structures. The proposed geometry incorporated elongated elliptical motifs designed to enhance tensile deformability and promote stress redistribution during loading. Finite element analysis demonstrated that the beetle-inspired structures exhibited more uniform strain propagation and lower local stress concentration than conventional structures, particularly in the horizontal configuration. Uniaxial tensile testing further confirmed enhanced deformation sustainability and delayed structural failure in the beetle-inspired architectures. In addition, comparative simulations of deformable sensor-interconnect systems revealed reduced peak stress accumulation near rigid island regions. Overall, the present study demonstrates that beetle-inspired interdigitated geometries can effectively enhance flexibility and mechanical stability in stretchable systems, suggesting their strong potential for future flexible and deformable devices requiring high durability under repeated mechanical deformation.</p>","PeriodicalId":18560,"journal":{"name":"Microsystems & Nanoengineering","volume":"12 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":11.1,"publicationDate":"2026-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148887886","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"AI-driven dual-mode phase and label-free fluorescence imaging platform using a single-shot gabor hologram.","authors":"Seonghwan Park, Jaeseong Lee, Jaewoo Park, Inkyu Moon","doi":"10.1038/s41378-026-01424-9","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41378-026-01424-9","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Simultaneous acquisition of quantitative phase and fluorescence information is essential for comprehensive cellular analysis, as these complementary modalities provide structural and biochemical insights, respectively. However, conventional dual-mode imaging systems require fluorescent labeling, complex optical architectures, and multiple acquisition channels, which limit scalability, increase cost, and hinder deployment in low-resource or high-throughput settings. Here, we present an AI-driven dual-mode phase and label-free fluorescence imaging platform using a single-shot Gabor hologram. The proposed framework enables simultaneous reconstruction of quantitative phase images and virtual fluorescence channels from a single low-cost holographic measurement, eliminating the need for fluorescent staining, multi-shot acquisition, or multimodal optical hardware. To achieve this, we introduce a one-sided unsupervised diffusion model that learns a unidirectional mapping from Gabor holograms to dual-mode outputs without requiring paired training data or cycle-consistency constraints. The model integrates contrastive learning-based hologram synthesis with hologram-conditioned denoising diffusion to ensure high structural fidelity and robust cross-modal reconstruction. Ground-truth phase and fluorescence images acquired from a conventional dual-mode optical system are used only during training, while inference relies exclusively on a single-shot Gabor hologram captured with a minimal optical configuration. Experimental validation across multiple cancer cell lines and organelle-specific fluorescence channels demonstrates that the proposed platform accurately recovers cellular morphology and subcellular distributions, achieving an FID of 57.74, SSIM of 0.76, PSNR of 26.89 dB, and LPIPS of 0.12, and further generalizes to unseen conditions including higher magnification, different cell type, low-illumination, and defocused acquisitions. These results support quantitative analysis, cell-type discrimination, and drug-response assessment, establishing a scalable and cost-effective platform that paves the way toward compact, high-content label-free imaging solutions.</p>","PeriodicalId":18560,"journal":{"name":"Microsystems & Nanoengineering","volume":"12 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":11.1,"publicationDate":"2026-08-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13530223/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148865827","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Microarray chip to fabricate 3D PDAC heterospheroids with architectural organization towards tumor invasion and chemoresistance study.","authors":"Xiaoyun Wei, Xingrun Lan, Yiqian Pan, Ling Wang, Keke Chen, Mingen Xu","doi":"10.1038/s41378-026-01437-4","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41378-026-01437-4","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a highly aggressive solid tumor, closely associated with its unique tumor microenvironment (TME), which is characterized by a dense desmoplastic stroma. Abundant stromal cells, primarily fibroblasts, constitute the majority of cells in the tumor mass and exhibit pronounced spatial heterogeneity. Importantly, the spatial distribution of tumors and fibroblasts is vital for shaping the TME and critically influencing therapeutic responses. Here, we present a facile microarray chip for generating architecturally defined 3D PDAC heterospheroids. This platform enables us to mimic the dynamic interactions between tumor and stromal cells and to investigate how spatial organization influences stroma heterogeneity, tumor invasion and chemoresistance. The chip incorporates square concave microstructure array allowing controllable and reproducible production of uniform-sized spheroids. By simply altering the cell seeding sequence, we successfully constructed heterospheroids with distinct spatial distributions of cancer cells and fibroblasts. We further demonstrated that these organizational patterns modulate tumor-stroma crosstalk and ultimately regulate tumor invasive behavior. Furthermore, the heterospheroids with defined patterns exhibited distinct drug responses, and the potential for combination therapy evaluation was also verified. Beyond providing a robust platform for engineering heterospheroids with controllable tumor-stroma architectures, this system offers a robust 3D co-cultured model for advancing cancer research and drug screening.</p>","PeriodicalId":18560,"journal":{"name":"Microsystems & Nanoengineering","volume":"12 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":11.1,"publicationDate":"2026-08-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13530237/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148864933","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Monolithic silicon micromechanical metastructures for compliant MEMS devices.","authors":"Bingdong Chang, Mads Holmgaard Jensen, Jiawei Wang, Ada Ioana Bunea, Rasmus Ellebæk Christiansen, Debabrata Adhikari, Tianbo Yu, Anpan Han","doi":"10.1038/s41378-026-01414-x","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41378-026-01414-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Mechanical metastructures (MMs) have enabled exotic and programmable mechanical properties in artificial materials, which have attracted considerable interest for applications like energy harvesting, energy absorption, sensing, and biomedical devices. Although MMs have already been realized based on materials including metals, polymers, and ceramics, there has been no demonstration of MMs with single crystalline silicon (Si) in microscale, which is limited by precise 3D manufacturing technologies on monolithic Si substrates. By actively engineering the mechanical properties of Si microstructures with an MM design, we have created the possibility for a broader range of functionalities in Si-based microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and microchips. In this study, we report micromechanical metastructures (µMMs) fabricated with monolithic silicon materials on a wafer-scale. Freestanding µMMs were fabricated and their mechanical properties were characterized using a microprobe station. With a rational design of unit cell geometries, we achieve negative Poisson's ratio (-0.25 to -1.0), maximum strain up to 20% both tensile and compressive, and an effective Young's modulus of 5 MPa to 13 MPa. Moreover, we have demonstrated transfer of large areas of Si µMMs (5 mm by 2.5 mm) into flexible polymer substrates to achieve hybrid structures, which exhibit compliant mechanical properties with an effective Young's modulus down to 0.42 MPa. The embedded µMMs remain electrically conductive with applied tensile strain up to 20%, implying potential for flexible and wearable MEMS devices.</p>","PeriodicalId":18560,"journal":{"name":"Microsystems & Nanoengineering","volume":"12 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":11.1,"publicationDate":"2026-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13524923/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148851026","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Deep-ultraviolet chiral interband plasmonics in silicon nanohelices.","authors":"Juhwan Kim, Jang-Hwan Han, Hyun Min Kim, Gyurin Kim, Seung-Jae Hwang, Sang-Yun Lee, Hyeon-Ho Jeong","doi":"10.1038/s41378-026-01419-6","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41378-026-01419-6","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Ultraviolet (UV) plasmonic materials are promising for biosensing and nanophotonics, but practical deployment has been limited by oxidation and corrosion in UV-active metals. Here we introduce chiral silicon nanohelices as a robust and scalable platform for UV plasmonics enabled by interband-driven negative permittivity of silicon below ~300 nm. Wafer-scale arrays of three-dimensional chiral Si nanohelices are fabricated by glancing angle deposition and exhibit pronounced UV chiroptical responses, including strong circular dichroism near 270 nm. The nanohelices show exceptional stability, retaining their UV chiral plasmonic signatures after >4 years of ambient storage and under strongly acidic conditions (pH 1.9). As a proof of concept, we translate the UV chiroptical resonance shifts into a refractive index sensing scheme, demonstrating competitive detection performance in the UV. These results establish silicon nanohelices as a chemically robust, application-ready platform for UV chiral plasmonics.</p>","PeriodicalId":18560,"journal":{"name":"Microsystems & Nanoengineering","volume":"12 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":11.1,"publicationDate":"2026-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13524946/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148850962","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Single bi-functional flexible sensor device for simultaneous pH and oxygen monitoring during pre-transplant normothermic perfusion.","authors":"Avik Sett, Filippos Bersis, Puck Groen, Annelot Muntinga, Jeroen de Jonge, Robbert Friendwijk, Ger de Graaf, Massimo Mastrangeli, Paddy French","doi":"10.1038/s41378-026-01396-w","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41378-026-01396-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Monitoring of organ health and tissue damage through real-time sensing of chemical parameters such as pH and oxygen concentration could provide helpful information in the field of solid organ transplantation. Several sensors have been developed to detect oxygen concentrations and pH levels in tissues separately; however, there is no report to date on a single device in such context that can detect both pH and oxygen alterations simultaneously and in real time. This paper reports the development of a single, bi-functional optical sensor device that can simultaneously and reversibly respond to changes in both pH and oxygen concentration. The proposed optical sensor integrates both pH- and oxygen-sensitive probes, and is optimized to achieve minimal cross-sensitivity during simultaneous measurements. The sensor is excited with light of 405 nm wavelength to detect pH and oxygen changes respectively at emission wavelengths of 520 nm and 600 nm. The sensor detects pH and oxygen alterations with a response time of about 12.5 s and less than 1.5 s, respectively. The sensor exhibits a sensitivity of 75.75% for pH variations and 20.4% per mg/ml for changes in oxygen concentration. The sensor was tested on a human liver declined for transplantation to analyse the initial sensor behaviour on human tissue. Including the sensor in an organ perfusion setup to monitor pH and oxygen levels could potentially provide insight into the microcirculation of an organ before transplantation.</p>","PeriodicalId":18560,"journal":{"name":"Microsystems & Nanoengineering","volume":"12 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":11.1,"publicationDate":"2026-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13524927/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148850980","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A TSV-packaged SP6T RF MEMS switch with ultra-thin profile and suppressed substrate loss for DC to Ku band application.","authors":"Yulong Zhang, Jiangtao Wei, Huiliang Liu, Jianwen Sun, Qiannan Wu, Mengwei Li, Zewen Liu","doi":"10.1038/s41378-026-01417-8","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41378-026-01417-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The evolution of wireless communication imposes stringent requirements on RF front-end modules, specifically demanding switches with ultra-thin profiles and wideband coverage up to Ku band. However, conventional packaged MEMS switches often result in excessive device height, creating a bottleneck for compact system integration. To address these challenges, this study presents a TSV-packaged Single Pole Six Throw (SP6T) RF MEMS switch that simultaneously achieves an ultra-thin profile and superior signal integrity. The device features a total height of only 300 μm, achieved through a substrate grinding process. To compensate for the impedance variations induced by the ultra-thin substrate and air cavity, two types of Heterotypic Microstrip (HMS) transmission lines are proposed and optimized for signal matching from DC to Ku band. The switches are fabricated using a combination of surface and bulk micromachining, including gold-alloy electroplating, Au-Sn bonding, and TSV processes. Measurement results verify the design strategy: the switch with a 300-μm height exhibits significantly improved insertion loss (IL) suppression compared to thicker counterparts. The best IL reaches 2.0 dB at 18 GHz, with return loss better than 14 dB and isolation exceeding 18 dB across the DC ~18 GHz band. Furthermore, mechanical and thermal simulations confirm that the substrate thinning does not compromise contact force or heat dissipation. These results demonstrate that the proposed packaging scheme successfully solves the conflict between miniaturization and high-frequency performance, offering a promising solution for next-generation mobile RF systems.</p>","PeriodicalId":18560,"journal":{"name":"Microsystems & Nanoengineering","volume":"12 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":11.1,"publicationDate":"2026-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13524918/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148850892","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}