Ultima Unpatterned Flowcells
Executive Summary: Ultima seem to have moved to an unpatterned wafer. Beads are probably spin coated and self organize. This is cheaper than patterning, likely works well with minor disadvantages.
When Ultima originally posted pre-prints on their technology in 2022 wafers were patterned with electrostatic landing pads. But Keith mentioned on his blog (and over in the Discord) that the production wafers are now unpatterned.
This is interesting!
A bare wafer costs something like $50 and they are available from a number of suppliers. While patterning probably isn’t very expensive, the use of an unpatterned flowcell makes manufacturing cheaper and gives us a clear COGS on the (not a) “flowcell”.