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Microfluidic Method for Thermal Cycling by Microwave Dielectric Heating
Published
Author(s)
Pierre-Alain Auroux, Jayna J. Shah, James Booth, Mulpuri Rao, Laurie E. Locascio, Michael Gaitan
Abstract
We report on temperature time domain and spectral measurements for on-chip microwave thermocycling. In particular we observe enhanced specificity of the heating of a targeted sample compared to conventional heating block-based thermocyclers. Spatial control of the temperature in the device is implemented by delivering microwave energy to specific locations in the microfluidic chip. Our device characterization shows a linear response between the rise in temperature and the applied power as predicted by theory. On-chip thermocycling by microwave dielectric heating is characterized and compared to a commercial heating block-based thermocycler. This method is applicable to any reaction where fast and accurate heat transfer is required. We are currently developing PCR-based applications based on this technique.
Proceedings Title
The 10th International Conference on Miniaturized Systems for Chemistry and Life Sciences (microTAS)
Auroux, P.
, Shah, J.
, Booth, J.
, Rao, M.
, Locascio, L.
and Gaitan, M.
(2006),
Microfluidic Method for Thermal Cycling by Microwave Dielectric Heating, The 10th International Conference on Miniaturized Systems for Chemistry and Life Sciences (microTAS), Tokyo, 1, JA
(Accessed October 11, 2025)