Fabrication of fluidic chips with 1-D nanochannels on PMMA substrates by photoresist-free UV-lithography and UV-assisted low-temperature bonding

Hu, Xianqiao; He, Qinggang; Zhang, Xiangbo; Chen, Hengwu

doi:10.1007/s10404-010-0753-6

Cited by 16 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…Meanwhile, an increasing number of unconventional fabrication techniques have also been developed in recent years 19 . For example, some polymers, such as polycarbonate 20,21 and polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) 22 , have desirable material properties, whereby they can decompose and form nanoscale structures on the surfaces when they are exposed to UV light or treated in a thermal compression process 23 . Although these methods provide alternative solutions for nanofabrication that are typically simple and low-cost, they show limitations in terms of the fabrication success rate and throughput, and they have insufficient control of the geometric dimensions for the fabricated nanochannels.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fabrication of all-transparent polymer-based and encapsulated nanofluidic devices using nano-indentation lithography

Lin

Zhan

et al. 2017

Microsyst Nanoeng

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In this paper, we describe a novel and simple process for the fabrication of all-transparent and encapsulated polymeric nanofluidic devices using nano-indentation lithography. First, a nanomechanical probe is used to 'scratch' nanoscale channels on polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) substrates with sufficiently high hardness. Next, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is used twice to duplicate the nanochannels onto PDMS substrates from the 'nano-scratched' PMMA substrates. A number of experiments are conducted to explore the relationships between the nano-indentation parameters and the nanochannel dimensions and to control the aspect ratio of the fabricated nanochannels. In addition, traditional photolithography combined with soft lithography is employed to fabricate microchannels on another PDMS 'cap' substrate. After manually aligning the substrates, all uncovered channels on two separate PDMS substrates are bonded to achieve a sealed and transparent nanofluidic device, which makes the dimensional transition from microscale to nanoscale feasible. The smallest dimensions of the achievable nanochannels that we have demonstrated thus far are of~20 nm depth and~800 nm width, with lengths extendable beyond 100 μm. Fluid flow experiments are performed to verify the reliability of the device. Two types of colloidal solution are used to visualize the fluid flow through the nanochannels, that is, ethanol is mixed with gold colloid or fluorescent dye (fluorescein isothiocyanate), and the flow rate and filling time of liquid in the nanochannels are estimated based on time-lapsed image data. The simplicity of the fabrication process, bio-compatibility of the polymer substrates, and optical transparency of the nanochannels for flow visualization are key characteristics of this approach that will be very useful for nanofluidic and biomolecular research applications in the future. INTRODUCTIONThe field of nanofluidics is widely known as the research and application of the behaviors of liquid flow in a specific area that is confined to the nanoscale 1 . A significant research interest has risen in this field due to the unique nanofluidic phenomena and flow properties that are markedly different from those in the welldeveloped microfluidics field. For example, since the dimensions of typical nanochannels are comparable to those of biomolecules, such as proteins and DNAs, they may be used for the transportation of selective molecules and DNA stretching. Furthermore, similar to microchannels, the surface-to-volume ratio of nanochannel structures is ultra-high, which leads to a diffusionlimited reaction 2 and negative water pressure induced by capillarity 3 . Moreover, because the size of the electrical double layer formed by strong electrostatic interactions between ions and the charged surface is in the range of 1 − 100 nm (Refs. 4,5), nanoflows in nanochannels will have flow properties that significantly deviate from Newtonian fluids. Based on these novel dimensional effects, many significant applications have been explored over the past ...

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fabrication of all-transparent polymer-based and encapsulated nanofluidic devices using nano-indentation lithography

Lin

Zhan

et al. 2017

Microsyst Nanoeng

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“…The metalization of polymer surface are of great interest due to their numerous potential applications in fields such as surface protection [1], microelectronics industry [2], surface decoration [3], and the fabrication of biological devices [4]. Several experimental studies for preparing the metallized polymer were reported including magnetron sputtering deposition [5], electroplate [6], or electroless plating [1][2][3][4].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Several experimental studies for preparing the metallized polymer were reported including magnetron sputtering deposition [5], electroplate [6], or electroless plating [1][2][3][4]. Electroless plating is particularly attractive among these methods due to its less requirement for expensive facilities, less restriction in surface topography, low cost, and reliable capability for large area deposition [7][8][9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Method for electroless nickel plating on poly(ethylene terephthalate) substrate modified with primer and self-assembled monolayer

Sun

Huang

Wang³

et al. 2015

J Mater Sci: Mater Electron

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In this work, the electroless nickel plating on poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) surface was developed based on printing primer and then immersing in 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (KH550) solution. The mechanism of the surface activating and structural properties of nickel plating were investigated using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Hall measurements, optical microscope and T-peel adhesion strength. Results showed the formation of crystalline Ni and Ni-P coatings on the pretreated PET surface. The surface electrical resistivity of nickel coating was reduced from 12.18 to 0.09 ohm cm, and the adhesion strength were 9.74-9.89 N/cm, when the deposited time increased from 1 to 30 min. The average electromagnetic interference-shielding effectiveness of nickel-plated PET sheets maintained a relatively stable value (38.4-37.5 dB) in a frequency range of 0.05-1.5 GHz. The electroless nickel plating was most possibly due to the formation of higher density of carboxyl groups and then graft copolymerization of amine groups onto the pretreated PET surface. Therefore, the pretreated PET surface was more prone to absorb tin sensitizer and palladium catalyst to form an active layer for electroless nickel plating.

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“…Consequently, polymer instead of silicon or quartz is often considered as a better choice for making microfluidic devices (Song and Lee 2006). Several groups have been using PDMS and other polymers to fabricate micro and nanofluidic channels (Lei Zhang et al 2008;Xianqiao Hu et al 2011), often nanometer dimensions are obtained but accurate shape control at the sub micron level is not easy to achieve. Other groups have used alternative materials to replicate nanofluidic channels (Rolland et al 2004;De Marco et al 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Proton beam writing a platform technology for high quality three-dimensional metal mold fabrication for nanofluidic applications

Kan¹,

Shao²,

Wang³

et al. 2011

Microsyst Technol

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Direct write nanolithographic techniques are powerful techniques to fabricate masters for nano-imprint lithography (NIL). Proton beam writing (PBW) is a relatively new technique which has shown great potential in fabricating three-dimensional (3D) nanostructures in polymer resist material down to the 20 nm level. MeV protons generate secondary electrons and like in many lithographic processes these electrons modify the molecular structure of the resist. The energies of the proton induced secondary electrons are relatively low compared with secondary electrons generated using electron beam writing, therefore proton induced secondary electrons only modify resist material within several nano meters of the proton track. Since protons mainly interact with the substrate electrons the path of the proton beam is very straight, resulting in smooth and well defined resist structures with practically no proximity effects. Further development of current proton beam technology, required to approach sub 10 nm structuring with MeV protons is discussed. To explore the full micro-and nano-fabricating capabilities of PBW it is important to investigate potential new resist materials. In PBW mass production can be achieved through the fabrication of reliable molds and stamps. The compatibility of MeV proton beams for resist materials and post processing steps like electroplating and resist removal are evaluated. The second focus of this paper is PDMS nanofluidic lab on a chip sorting devices using high quality Ni molds. These molds have been prepared via PBW and Ni electroplating, a release layer on a Ni mold allows fine feature replication down to the 300 nm level with high aspect ratios in PDMS.

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Fabrication of fluidic chips with 1-D nanochannels on PMMA substrates by photoresist-free UV-lithography and UV-assisted low-temperature bonding

Cited by 16 publications

References 47 publications

Fabrication of all-transparent polymer-based and encapsulated nanofluidic devices using nano-indentation lithography

Fabrication of all-transparent polymer-based and encapsulated nanofluidic devices using nano-indentation lithography

Method for electroless nickel plating on poly(ethylene terephthalate) substrate modified with primer and self-assembled monolayer

Proton beam writing a platform technology for high quality three-dimensional metal mold fabrication for nanofluidic applications

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