Chapter 8
Femtosecond Laser Direct Writing
for 3D Microfluidic Biochip Fabrication
Jian Xu, Felix Sima, and Koji Sugioka
Abstract Microfluidic devices with three-dimensional (3D) configurations and
multiple functionalities are exceptionally useful for on-chip construction of artificial biological environments and 3D manipulation of bio-species in microscale
spaces. Among the current methods for fabricating these devices, femtosecond (fs)
laser direct writing offers several unique advantages, including simple procedures,
maskless and resistless processing, and highly flexible 3D fabrication and multifunctional integration in transparent materials such as glass. Direct writing of 3D
microstructures having designable functionalities with fs lasers allows the production of microfluidic, microoptic/photonic and microelectronic elements, which can
be monolithically integrated into a single glass substrate for the fabrication of
high-performance biochips. The principles of fs laser direct writing manufacture
of microfluidic, optofluidic, electrofluidic, and ship-in-a-bottle biochips are introduced herein, and practical techniques and recent advances are reviewed. In addition,
possible future directions in this field are discussed.
8.1 Introduction
Microfluidic biochips allow high-performance manipulation of small volumes of
biological liquids in microscale spaces and have led to new possibilities in biological
and medical research [1–3]. Devices such as these having three-dimensional (3D)
configurations can provide extraordinary flexibility and functionality with regard to
the construction of artificial biological microenvironments, such as organs-on-a-chip
J. Xu · F. Sima · K. Sugioka (B)
RIKEN Center for Advanced Photonics, RIKEN, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan
e-mail: ksugioka@riken.jp
F. Sima
CETAL, National Institute for Lasers, Plasma and Radiation Physics (INFLPR), Magurele, Ilfov
00175, Romania
J. Xu
School of Physics and Electronic Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
A. Hu (ed.), Laser Micro-Nano-Manufacturing and 3D Microprinting, Springer Series
in Materials Science 309, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-59313-1_8
247
Femtosecond Laser Direct Writing
for 3D Microfluidic Biochip Fabrication
Jian Xu, Felix Sima, and Koji Sugioka
Abstract Microfluidic devices with three-dimensional (3D) configurations and
multiple functionalities are exceptionally useful for on-chip construction of artificial biological environments and 3D manipulation of bio-species in microscale
spaces. Among the current methods for fabricating these devices, femtosecond (fs)
laser direct writing offers several unique advantages, including simple procedures,
maskless and resistless processing, and highly flexible 3D fabrication and multifunctional integration in transparent materials such as glass. Direct writing of 3D
microstructures having designable functionalities with fs lasers allows the production of microfluidic, microoptic/photonic and microelectronic elements, which can
be monolithically integrated into a single glass substrate for the fabrication of
high-performance biochips. The principles of fs laser direct writing manufacture
of microfluidic, optofluidic, electrofluidic, and ship-in-a-bottle biochips are introduced herein, and practical techniques and recent advances are reviewed. In addition,
possible future directions in this field are discussed.
8.1 Introduction
Microfluidic biochips allow high-performance manipulation of small volumes of
biological liquids in microscale spaces and have led to new possibilities in biological
and medical research [1–3]. Devices such as these having three-dimensional (3D)
configurations can provide extraordinary flexibility and functionality with regard to
the construction of artificial biological microenvironments, such as organs-on-a-chip
J. Xu · F. Sima · K. Sugioka (B)
RIKEN Center for Advanced Photonics, RIKEN, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan
e-mail: ksugioka@riken.jp
F. Sima
CETAL, National Institute for Lasers, Plasma and Radiation Physics (INFLPR), Magurele, Ilfov
00175, Romania
J. Xu
School of Physics and Electronic Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
A. Hu (ed.), Laser Micro-Nano-Manufacturing and 3D Microprinting, Springer Series
in Materials Science 309, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-59313-1_8
247