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Creative Biolabs provides high-precision microfluidic chip laser engraving services for our clients all over the world. We will maximize the advantages of this excellent microstructure manufacturing technology to obtain microfluidic chips with complex structures and advanced functions at reasonable cost-effectiveness.

Laser Engraving

As the available wavelengths of laser generators cover the infrared to extreme ultraviolet bands, and the pulse width is reduced to several photoperiods, various laser processing equipment and concepts have emerged and are widely used in the field of microfabrication.

Laser processing equipment is mainly used for the fabrication of microfluidic devices made of glass or optical components for certain specific applications. After precision engraving and surface treatment, the substrate can be bonded with a cover plate to seal the channel and used for downstream research, or to be used as a high-precision mold for elastomer reprographic.

Fig 1. Laser-based rapid fabrication of glass microfluidic chip. (Wlodarczyk, et al., 2019)

New developments in the field of CO₂ laser generators also ensure rapid prototyping and low-volume production of polymer materials (commonly used in PMMA) directly. When the CO₂ laser is irradiated on the surface of the substrate material, the increase in temperature will cause the melting and evaporation of the polymer material locally. Subsequent annealing and chemical solvent polishing protocols ensure the smoothness of the machined surface.

Advantages of Laser Engraving

Laser engraving overcomes the layer height limitation of multi-layer chip fabrication in photolithography, and directly produces weir-type or vertical layered channels with three-dimensional structures. Our abundant microfabrication experience and advanced micro-processing platform allow Creative Biolabs to comprehensively compare various microfluidic chip manufacturing technologies and select the most suitable processing technology for our clients. Compared with traditional photolithography processing technology, laser engraving craft has advantages as follows.

• Does not require direct contact with the substrate material and has the ability to engrave non-flat samples.
• Accommodate surface height variations by laser focusing at different depths.
• Machining accuracy 100μm with minimized alignment error.
• Engraving patterns at different depths for multi-layer processing.
• Real-time through-cutting of substrate materials.
• Fast setup and fabricating without mold requirement.
• Capable of small-batch production.
• Heat-affected zone can be removed by post-processing.
• Compatible with almost all bonding technology.
• Vertical channel walls.

Our Services

Improved microfluidic laser engraving technology and abundant fabricating experience give Creative Biolabs the confidence to rapidly manufacture microfluidic devices with various materials and different types. You may upload the design drawings you have, or submit design sketches and functional requirements to entrust our professional engineering team to design and develop suitable microfluidic structures for you. Our rapid prototyping protocol and high-precision laser engraving technology repeatedly convert your design into usable chips with extreme flexibility. In addition, we are also equipped for chip characterization, surface treatment, and a series of downstream experiments. We will be your irreplaceable choice for microfluidic chip development, so don't hesitate to contact us with any demands.

Reference

1. Wlodarczyk, K.L.; et al. Maskless, rapid manufacturing of glass microfluidic devices using a picosecond pulsed laser. Nature. 2019, 9, 20215.

For Research Use Only. Not For Clinical Use.