Fabrication of arbitrary three-dimensional suspended hollow microstructures in transparent fused silica glass

Frederik Kotz,Patrick Risch,Josep Puigmartí-Luis,Alexander Quick,Karl Arnold,Michael Thiel,Semih Sevim,Andrei Hrynevich,Paul D Dalton,Dorothea Helmer,Bastian E Rapp

doi:10.1038/s41467-019-09497-z

Frederik Kotz, Patrick Risch + Show 9 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-09497-z

Copy DOI

Abstract

Fused silica glass is the preferred material for applications which require long-term chemical and mechanical stability as well as excellent optical properties. The manufacturing of complex hollow microstructures within transparent fused silica glass is of particular interest for, among others, the miniaturization of chemical synthesis towards more versatile, configurable and environmentally friendly flow-through chemistry as well as high-quality optical waveguides or capillaries. However, microstructuring of such complex three-dimensional structures in glass has proven evasive due to its high thermal and chemical stability as well as mechanical hardness. Here we present an approach for the generation of hollow microstructures in fused silica glass with high precision and freedom of three-dimensional designs. The process combines the concept of sacrificial template replication with a room-temperature molding process for fused silica glass. The fabricated glass chips are versatile tools for, among other, the advance of miniaturization in chemical synthesis on chip.

Highlights

Fused silica glass is the preferred material for applications which require long-term chemical and mechanical stability as well as excellent optical properties
Creating freeform hollow structures inside fused silica glass is difficult and has, until now, only been shown using femtosecond laser writing with consecutive etching of the irradiated areas with aggressive chemicals such as hydrofluoric acid (HF)[5,6]
We have recently developed a method for structuring fused silica components at room temperature[21,22,23]

Summary

Introduction

Fused silica glass is the preferred material for applications which require long-term chemical and mechanical stability as well as excellent optical properties. Microstructures in fused silica glass are usually fabricated by wet chemical or dry etching processes[1]. Creating freeform hollow structures inside fused silica glass is difficult and has, until now, only been shown using femtosecond laser writing with consecutive etching of the irradiated areas with aggressive chemicals such as hydrofluoric acid (HF)[5,6].

Results

Conclusion