Relationship between bonding strength and surface roughness in low-temperature bonding of glass for micro/nanofluidic device

The bonding of glass substrates is an important process in the fabrication of glass micro/nanofluidic devices. In this study, the influence of the surface roughness of glass substrates after low-temperature bonding is investigated. It is found that plasma etching can be used to control the surface roughness to the range 2–9 nm. Substrates with a roughness of 5 nm or less can be bonded. The pressure capacity of devices tends to decrease with increasing surface roughness. A pressure capacity of 500 kPa or higher is obtained with a surface roughness of 2 nm or less. This criterion for bonding conditions can be applied to roughness formed by other methods (e.g. via a Cr layer). The proposed approach will facilitate the design and fabrication of glass micro/nanofluidic devices, especially those that complicated fabrication processes or embedding of multiple materials.