Manufacturing issues and Considerations in Thermal Bonding of Polymer Based Lab-on-a-chip

摘要

The sealing of microchannels is a key step in the fabrication of microfluidic devices and thermal bonding is a common technique used. Here, major manufacturing issues and considerations in thermal bonding are investigated, including bonding quality and microchannel deformations. Flatness of substrate is extremely crucial to the uniformity in bonding. While increased bonding pressure helps to overcome problems related to surface topography and to enhance bond strength, its significant impact on geometrical changes of microchannel due to viscoelastic effect should also be taken into consideration.