Fabrication of microchannels in single crystal diamond for microfluidic systems

Abstract

A growth of single crystal diamond (SCD) microchannels on HPHT diamond substrate has been carried out successfully by a simple and novel method. Firstly, aluminum film was patterned on SCD diamond substrate surface by magnetron sputtering, photolithography and dry etching techniques. Secondly, the aluminum patterns were transferred onto diamond substrate via inductively coupled plasma etching to form grooves on diamond surface. Finally, microchannels were achieved by epitaxial lateral overgrowth of SCD on the surface of prepared substrate by microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition system. After that, fluorescent liquid was introduced to check hollowness of the microchannels. This work provides a simple and time saving method to fabricate SCD microchannels for microfluidic system, which offers a great potential for hard environment applications.