Abstract
Conventional manufacturing of microfluidic devices from glass substrates is a complex, multi-step process that involves different fabrication techniques and tools. Hence, it is time-consuming and expensive, in particular for the prototyping of microfluidic devices in low quantities. This article describes a laser-based process that enables the rapid manufacturing of enclosed micro-structures by laser micromachining and microwelding of two 1.1-mm-thick borosilicate glass plates. The fabrication process was carried out only with a picosecond laser (Trumpf TruMicro 5×50) that was used for: (a) the generation of microfluidic patterns on glass, (b) the drilling of inlet/outlet ports into the material, and (c) the bonding of two glass plates together in order to enclose the laser-generated microstructures. Using this manufacturing approach, a fully-functional microfluidic device can be fabricated in less than two hours. Initial fluid flow experiments proved that the laser-generated microstructures are completely sealed; thus, they show a potential use in many industrial and scientific areas. This includes geological and petroleum engineering research, where such microfluidic devices can be used to investigate single-phase and multi-phase flow of various fluids (such as brine, oil, and CO2) in porous media.
Highlights
Microfluidic devices are used across a wide range of applications in many industrial and research areas, primarily in chemistry, biology, medicine, and pharmacology [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9]
The hermeticity of microfluidic devices reduces the risk of sample contamination and provides a physical barrier between an operator and an analyzed substance that sometimes can be dangerous
Ultrafast lasers can be used for the generation of truly three-dimensional (3D) microfluidic patterns inside glass materials, such as fused silica, Borofloat®33, or PyrexTM [33,34,35,36,37,38]. This is performed by chemically etching the locally laser-modified regions inside glass. This fabrication technique, often called selective laser-induced etching (SLE), enables the manufacturing of microfluidic devices without the use of a physical mask and additional steps related to the enclosure of the microfluidic patterns
Summary
Microfluidic devices are used across a wide range of applications in many industrial and research areas, primarily in chemistry, biology, medicine, and pharmacology [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9]. This is performed by chemically etching the locally laser-modified regions inside glass This fabrication technique, often called selective laser-induced etching (SLE), enables the manufacturing of microfluidic devices without the use of a physical mask and additional steps related to the enclosure of the microfluidic patterns. Inlet/outlet ports in the cover glass were generated with the same laser This process provides a high degree of flexibility in the design of microfluidic devices, which is very important, at the stage of prototyping, and reduces the time and cost associated with their manufacture when a low quantity of the devices is required
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