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Reusable microfluidic chip processed by femtosecond double-pulse-assisted polarization-selective etching in fused silica glass

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Abstract

Microfluidic chip, with the advantage of compact structure and low reagent consumption, has rapidly emerged as the key technologies in bio(chemical) analysis and materials generation. In this work, a facile method is presented to fabricate reusable microfluidic in fused silica glass using femtosecond double-pulse laser-assisted polarization-selective wet etching. Three methods of dark treatment, chemical treatment and static treatment are used to effectively control the wettability of the surface of microchannel to increase the reuse rate of the microfluidic chip. Furthermore, simulations and experiments for three different kinds of Y-shaped micromixers are carried out to achieve better mixing function of microfluidic. Results indicate that arc-shaped channels have better mixing function than square-wave-shaped channel and linear-shaped channels. Finally, the application of oil-in-water and water-in-oil droplet preparation is carried out using the prepared microfluidic. It is find that the volume of each drop is about 1.5 × 10−3–2.5 × 10−2 μL. We believe the work in this paper will provide important theories and technologies for the rapid development of microfluidic chips and femtosecond laser processing.

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Acknowledgements

Parts of this work are funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (nos. 52075302, 51875321), the Shandong Provincial Natural Science Foundation (no. ZR2021QE247), the Open Research Fund of State Key Laboratory of High Performance Complex Manufacturing, Central South University (Kfkt2020-09) and the Key Laboratory of High-efficiency and Clean Mechanical Manufacture at Shandong University, Ministry of Education.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Advanced Jet Engineering Technologies (CaJET), School of Mechanical Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan, 250061, People’s Republic of China

    Dongkai Chu, Weizhen Li, Shuoshuo Qu & Peng Yao

  2. State Key Laboratory of High Performance and Complex Manufacturing, College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Central South University, Changsha, 410083, People’s Republic of China

    Dongkai Chu

  3. Key Laboratory of High Efficiency and Clean Mechanical Manufacture, Shandong University, Ministry of Education, Jinan, 250061, People’s Republic of China

    Dongkai Chu, Weizhen Li, Shuoshuo Qu & Peng Yao

  4. College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha, 410004, People’s Republic of China

    Xinran Dong

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  1. Dongkai Chu
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  2. Weizhen Li
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  4. Xinran Dong
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Correspondence to Dongkai Chu.

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Chu, D., Li, W., Qu, S. et al. Reusable microfluidic chip processed by femtosecond double-pulse-assisted polarization-selective etching in fused silica glass. J Opt 52, 216–223 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12596-022-00872-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12596-022-00872-6

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