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Bonding of soda-lime glass microchips at low temperature

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Abstract

A simple, low-temperature bonding process is described for the fabrication of soda-lime glass microfluidic chips. Due to its chemical inertness and temperature stability, glass remains a popular material for microfluidic chips despite the advances that have been made with polymer materials. Conventional thermal bonding is performed over the course of 24 h at 600°C and requires a precise temperature-controlled furnace. Here we introduce a simple low-temperature alternative for the high-strength bonding of soda-lime glass wafers based on the use of diluted HF solution in combination with pressure at a temperature of 65°C.

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Acknowledgement

This work was partly supported by the Japanese Ministry for Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. International Centre for Young Scientists (ICYS), National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-0044, Japan

    Alexander Iles & Nicole Pamme

  2. Horiike-Group, NIMS, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-0044, Japan

    Akio Oki

  3. Department of Chemistry, University of Hull, Cottingham Road, Hull, HU6 7RX, UK

    Nicole Pamme

Authors
  1. Alexander Iles
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  2. Akio Oki
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  3. Nicole Pamme
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Correspondence to Alexander Iles.

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Iles, A., Oki, A. & Pamme, N. Bonding of soda-lime glass microchips at low temperature. Microfluid Nanofluid 3, 119–122 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10404-006-0101-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10404-006-0101-z

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