Femtosecond laser nanostructuring in porous glass with sub-50 nm feature sizes.

We report on controllable production of nanostructures embedded in a porous glass by femtosecond laser direct writing. We show that a hollow nanovoid with a lateral size of ~40 nm and an axial size of ~1500 nm can be achieved by manipulating the peak intensity and polarization of the writing laser beam. Our finding enables applications ranging from direct construction of 3D nanofluidics in glass to clean stealth dicing of transparent plates.

Direct laser writing of sub-50 nm nanofluidic channels buried in glass for three-dimensional micro-nanofluidic integration.

We report on the fabrication of nanofluidic channels directly buried in silicate glass with transverse widths down to less than 50 nm using three-dimensional (3D) femtosecond laser direct writing. Using this technique, integrated micro-nanofluidic systems have been produced by simultaneously writing micro- and nanofluidic channels arranged into various 3D configurations in glass substrates. The fabricated micro- and nanofluidic systems have been used to demonstrate DNA analysis, e.g. stretching of DNA molecules. Our technique offers new opportunities to develop novel 3D micro-nanofluidic systems for a variety of lab-on-a-chip applications.

Fabrication of three-dimensional microfluidic channels inside glass using nanosecond laser direct writing.

We show that fabrication of three-dimensional microfluidic channels embedded in glass can be achieved by using a Q-switched, frequency-doubled Nd:YAG laser. The processing mainly consists of two steps: (1) formation of hollow microfluidic channels in porous glass immersed in Rhodamine 6G dissolved in water by nanosecond laser ablation; and (2) postannealing of the fabricated porous glass sample at 1120 °C for consolidation of the sample. In particular, a bilayer microfluidic structure is created in glass substrate using this technique for showcasing its capability of three-dimensional structuring.

Rapid prototyping of three-dimensional microfluidic mixers in glass by femtosecond laser direct writing.

The creation of complex three-dimensional (3D) microfluidic systems has attracted significant attention from both scientific and applied research communities. However, it is still a formidable challenge to build 3D microfluidic structures with arbitrary configurations using conventional planar lithographic fabrication methods. Here, we demonstrate rapid fabrication of high-aspect-ratio microfluidic channels with various 3D configurations in glass substrates by femtosecond laser direct writing. Based on this approach, we demonstrate a 3D passive microfluidic mixer and characterize its functionalities. This technology will enable rapid construction of complex 3D microfluidic devices for a wide array of lab-on-a-chip applications.

Three-dimensional microfluidic channel with arbitrary length and configuration fabricated inside glass by femtosecond laser direct writing.

We demonstrate, for the first time to the best of our knowledge, fabrication of three-dimensional microfluidic channels with arbitrary lengths and configurations inside glass by femtosecond laser direct writing. The main fabrication process includes two steps: (1) direct formation of hollow microchannels in a porous glass substrate immersed in water by femtosecond laser ablation and (2) postannealing of the glass substrate at ∼1150°C by which the porous glass can be consolidated. We show that a square-wavelike channel with a total length of ∼1.4 cm and a diameter of ∼64 µm can be easily produced ∼250 µm beneath the glass surface.