Glass etching for cost-effective microchannels fabrication

The available fabrication of microfluidic in industry involves with complex and expensive procedures. It is crucial to find another alternative which can reduce the cost production, simplify the process, and promote to a rapid production cycle. In this paper, a cost-effective approach of glass etching procedure for microchannels fabrication is described. The procedure involves with masking preparation using positive photoresist PR1-4000A, photolithography technique, and effective wet chemical etching process. From the experimental, good photoresist mask thickness and adherence was achieved. Then, acceptable etching rate, photoresist resistant, and surface roughness were obtained with suitable hydrofluoric acid (HF), hydrochloric acid (HC1), and de-ionized (DI) water composition. The presented simple fabrication process is suitable for fast prototyping and manufacturing disposable microfluidic devices. With the optimized process, a glass-based microchannels with etching depth up to 70um was produced.