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

摘要

Improved control over the dimensions of nanofluidic devices can be achieved through an unconventional, probe-based ‘scratching’ process. Fabricating nanosized bio-compatible channels for fluidics-based analysis of biomolecules such as DNA requires precise dimensional control. Wen J. Li at the City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, and his co-workers have shown that such channels can be formed simply by driving the conical tip of a nano-indentation device into a see-through polymethylmethacrylate surface. The dimensions of the scratched channels can be controlled by altering the force applied and are suitable for molding polydimethylsiloxane polymers into channels for nanofluidic devices. Fluid-flow experiments demonstrated that this approach yields reliable, leak-free systems that are well suited to analyzing biomolecules; the transparent and chemically inert nanochannels enable the visualization of fluorescent dyes and gold colloids that facilitate biological studies.