Fabrication and characterization of nanofluidic channels for studying molecular dynamics in confined environments

This thesis has characterized the applicability and limitation of PDMS micromolding and the substrate bonding techniques including both anodic (Si-glass) and thermal fusion (glass-glass) bonding, in fabricating sub-100-nm thick nanofluidic channels, which will be used for a controlled experimental study of molecular and fluidic transport in confined space. It is found that the fabrication of nanofluidic channels using PDMS substrate is generally limited to the thickness of -100 nm because of the softness of the materials. Also, the gas permeability of PDMS poses a significant challenge in the operation of the nanofluidic devices. We demonstrate that nanofluidic channels, as thin as 20 nm with high aspect ratio (more than 250:1, width to depth) on silicon substrate and 25 nm with aspect ratio of 2000 on glass substrate can be achieved with anodic bonding technique and direct glass-glass bonding technique, respectively. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) measurement is used to prove that the channels are of good uniformity and there is no significant change of the depth of nanofluidic channels due to anodic bonding process and glass-glass bonding process.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2005

Author dc:creator

• Mao, Pan

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Jongyoon Han and Peter So.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/34152

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/34152