Goal: To develop advanced packaging technologies for integrating tissue-based biosensors (comprising biological entities in contact with a distributed probe (I/O) array) with silicon-based and gallium-arsenide-based VLSI electronic and photonic chips, as well as MEMS-based microfluidic reservoirs, channels, and valves.

Progress: A crucial element in the development of such an interface is the necessity for high-density parallel interconnection of two-dimensional probe arrays with multiple I/O ports on mating chips, using flip-chip bonding approaches. In our laboratory, indium bump bonding by means of 10 to 30 µm sized indium bumps has proven to be highly reliable, and is being investigated as the interconnection method of choice for this application.