PRESSURE DRIVEN LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHY IN SELF-ENCLOSED GLASS MICROCAPILLARIES INTEGRATED ON SILICON

摘要

We demonstrate a silicon chip featuring self-enclosed integrated glass microcapillaries for pressure-driven liquid chromatography. The microcapillaries offer exceptional performance (740,000 plates/m) owing to their unique features, which set them apart from conventional fluidic channels and could pave the way to more effective bioanalytical microsystems. These include a cylindrical capillary lumen as opposed to the rectangular geometry typical of fluidic channels and a smooth surface finish imparted by thermal reflow of phosphosilicate glass (PSG) as opposed to the rough surface finish inherited from subtractive techniques (e.g. etch). All these are achieved using standard fabrication processes and shown here using 1-cm-long capillaries in 1 -μm diameter that can be further scaled down via extended glass reflow.