Many functions in a lab-on-a-chip device such as heating, electrochemical sensing and electrophoresis require integration of microelectrodes. However, conventional techniques for microelectrode integration are either requiring expensive facilities, cleanroom environment or insufficient in resolution and microelectrode thickness. Microwires have also been integrated into LOC devices as microelectrodes. They are commercially available in a diversity of material. and diameter, with industrial production standard and mechanical strength comparable to bulk metal, which make them ideal candidate for microelectrode. Nonetheless a technique to integrate these microwires into complicated microelectrode patterns has not yet been developed. In this thesis, two microwire integration techniques based on xurography are developed for elastomer and rigid polymer. Copper, silver, platinum, carbon and Ni-Cr alloy microwires down to 15 µm with minimum spacing of 150 µm and controllable position in the height direction are successfully integrated. The microwire electrode can also be suspended in the middle of the microchannel with desired length and angle. Various applications are presented to demonstrate the versatility of the xurographic microwire integration process. / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc)

Les récents progrès dans le domaine des MEMS organiques suscitent un intérêt croissant dans la substitution de micropoutres inorganiques par des micropoutres organiques pour diverses applications. N’ayant été étudiée qu’en mode statique, la réponse électrostrictive des MEMS organiques est présentée pour la première fois en mode dynamique. L’une des originalités de ce travail est de fabriquer un micro-récupérateur d’énergie mécanique avec une approche « tout-organique ». Dans cette thèse, des matériaux nanocomposites à base d’oxyde de graphène réduit (rGO) dispersé dans du poly-dimethyl siloxane (PDMS), sont utilisés pour la récupération de l'énergie mécanique vibratoire avec une transduction électrostrictive. Le dispositif génère une densité de puissance électrique de 8,15 W/cm3 pour une accélération de 1 g au premier mode de résonance (≈ 17 Hz). / Recent advances in the field of organic MEMS have generated interest in the substitution of inorganic microbeams by organic ones for various applications. Until now, the use of electrostrictive materials is limited to the MEMS operating mostly in static mode. The electrostrictive response of organic MEMS is presented here for the first time in dynamic mode. One of the originality of this work is to produce a micro-mechanical energy harvester fabricated in an all-organic approach. In this thesis, strain sensitive nanocomposite materials based on reduced graphene oxide (rGO) dispersed in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) are used for mechanical vibratory energy harvesting with an electrostrictive transducer. With an acceleration of 1 g of the microcantilever base, actuation at the first resonant mode (≈ 17 Hz) generates an electrical power density of 8.15 μW/cm3.