All-silica nanofluidic devices for DNA-analysis fabricated by imprint of sol-gel silica with silicon stamp

Lab Chip. 2012 Jan 21;12(2):262-7. doi: 10.1039/c1lc20689c. Epub 2011 Nov 14.

Abstract

We present a simple and cheap method for fabrication of silica nanofluidic devices for single-molecule studies. By imprinting sol-gel materials with a multi-level stamp comprising micro- and nanofeatures, channels of different depth are produced in a single process step. Calcination of the imprinted hybrid sol-gel material produces purely inorganic silica, which has very low autofluorescence and can be fusion bonded to a glass lid. Compared to top-down processing of fused silica or silicon substrates, imprint of sol-gel silica enables fabrication of high-quality nanofluidic devices without expensive high-vacuum lithography and etching techniques. The applicability of the fabricated device for single-molecule studies is demonstrated by measuring the extension of DNA molecules of different lengths confined in the nanochannels.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • DNA / analysis*
  • Microfluidic Analytical Techniques / instrumentation*
  • Molecular Imprinting
  • Nanotechnology / instrumentation*
  • Silica Gel / chemistry*
  • Silicon / chemistry*
  • Temperature

Substances

  • Silica Gel
  • DNA
  • Silicon