Development of a CMOS-compatible PCR chip: Comparison of design and system strategies

The development of a line of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) chips that was fully compatible with complementary-metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology was discussed. The CMOS technology can be used as a general platform to test and compare a wide range of experimental parameters involved in PCR-chip design and operation. The developed PCR-chip platform has been used as a common reference ground to conduct the first fully-fledged analysis of many different PCR-chip design and strategies. The results show that the CMOS-compatible processes enables a fast and easy adaption to foundary requirements and for a scalable integration of electro-optic detection and control circuitry.