Bernhard Boser (Advisor)

We present a post-processed 6.25mm2 0.18μm Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) platform that leverages the advantages of super-paramagnetic bead labeling to integrate on-chip the label separation and detection functionalities required for high sensitivity bio-assays. The surfaces of the CMOS chip and of the magnetic beads are functionalized with bio-chemicals complementary to a target analyte. In a sandwich capture format, the presence of the target analyte will strongly bind 4.5μm magnetic bead labels to the...

Optical interconnects are the next evolutionary step for computer server systems, replacing traditional copper interconnects to increase communication bandwidth and reduce overall power consumption. A variety of implementation techniques to bring optics to the rack-to-rack, board-to-board, and chip-to-chip scale are heavily pursued in the research space. In this dissertation we present a micro-electro mechanical systems (MEMS) based free-space optical link for board-to-board interconnects.

As with any free-space optical system, alignment is critical for the correction of undesired...

Ultrasound has long been used for medical imaging. Recent advances of miniaturized MEMS ultrasonic transducers new applications such as gesture recognition, personal fitness devices, and fingerprint sensors. These devices are considerably smaller than conventional transducers. To benefit from their lower excitation power requirements and address the reduced sensitivity requires the design of novel interface electronic circuits.

The first part of this thesis describes new circuits capable of generating all the high voltage drive signals for MEMS transducers on-chip from a single low...