Femtosecond laser 3D nanofabrication in glass: Enabling direct write of integrated micro/nanofluidic chips

The creation of complex three-dimensional (3D) fluidic systems composed of hollow micro- and nanostructures embedded in transparent substrates has attracted significant attention from both scientific and applied research communities. However, it is by now still a formidable challenge to build 3D micro- and nanofluidic structures with arbitrary configurations using conventional planar lithographic fabrication methods. As a direct and maskless fabrication technique, femtosecond laser micromachining provides a straightforward approach for high-precision spatial-selective modification inside transparent materials through nonlinear optical absorption. Here, we demonstrate rapid fabrication of high-aspect-ratio micro- and/or nanofluidic structures with various 3D configurations in glass substrates by femtosecond laser direct writing. Based on this approach, we demonstrate several functional micro- and nanofluidic devices including a 3D passive microfluidic mixer, a capillary electrophoresis (CE) analysis chip, and an integrated micro-nanofluidic system for single DNA analysis. This technology offers new opportunities to develop novel 3D micro-nanofluidic systems for a variety of lab-on-a-chip applications.