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Hands on: thermal bonding of nano- and microfluidic chips

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Abstract

Fused silica microchips have several attractive features; they are stable, transparent and allow fabrication with immense precision, also of nanochannels, which make them good candidates for both micro- and nanofluidics. Although fused silica microchips have been around for years, the single most difficult fabrication step, thermal bonding, remains a major hurdle. However, thermal bonding can be mastered by observing some simple rules. We provide an illustrated, step-by-step guide on how to prepare glass and fused silica microchips, pointing out pitfalls and advising correct manners for successful thermal bonding.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Applied Chemistry, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1, Hongo, Bunkyo, Tokyo, 113-8656, Japan

    Björn Renberg, Kae Sato & Takehiko Kitamori

  2. Research Laboratory for Nuclear Reactors, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1-N1-32 O-Okayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, 152-8550, Japan

    Takehiko Tsukahara

  3. KAST Group, Kanagawa Academy of Science and Technology (KAST), Ksp Bldg. East 307, 3-2-1 Sakado, Takahatsu-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa, 213-0012, Japan

    Kazuma Mawatari & Takehiko Kitamori

Authors
  1. Björn Renberg
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  2. Kae Sato
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  3. Takehiko Tsukahara
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  4. Kazuma Mawatari
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  5. Takehiko Kitamori
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Takehiko Kitamori.

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Renberg, B., Sato, K., Tsukahara, T. et al. Hands on: thermal bonding of nano- and microfluidic chips. Microchim Acta 166, 177–181 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-009-0166-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-009-0166-y

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