FIG. 2.

Overview of device substrate and heating mechanism. (a) Mag-Polymer microchip. Substrate modification consists of three identical spin coated polymer layers (P-1–P-3). Magnetic nanoparticles mixed within the polymer (PDMS) enable thermal lysis of bacteria, making molecules of interest available (i.e., DNA) for analysis (left). Atomic force microscopy image (AFM) displaying topography of magnetic polymer surface (right). (b) Image of magnetic polymer-coated microchip in microfluidic cartridge. (c) Schematic of heating mechanism for magnetic nanoparticles embedded in polymer matrix (left). Néel relaxation—the rapid change in magnetic moment in opposition to the nanoparticle's crystalline structure—drives heat generation (right).