Can you make one wafer, or is there a minimum?

One 4-inch wafer is the minimum and it is a normal order. Prototype and production run through the same equipment and the same process sheet.

Borosilicate or fused silica?

Fused silica if the assay uses UV below about 350 nm, needs the lowest possible autofluorescence, or sees high temperature. Borosilicate for everything else — it is less expensive, and it is the glass that anodically bonds to silicon. Fused silica does not.

Can you bond glass to plastic?

Yes. Glass-to-glass, glass-to-silicon and glass-to-polymer are all run here, including as a standalone service on parts made elsewhere. Bonding a rigid glass layer to a thermoplastic means working inside the polymer’s thermal budget, so the route is usually adhesive, PSA or laser rather than thermal.

What is the smallest feature you can hold?

1 µm minimum feature size; microwell and pillar features down to 2 µm; channel widths from 10 µm. Surface roughness under Ra 2 nm.

How deep can you drill, and how clean is the edge?

Apertures 0.04 to 10 mm by precision laser drilling, edge chipping held under 3 µm and position within ±25 µm. Laser-written through-glass vias reach aspect ratios of 50:1 or better, and apertures below 5 µm — each material- and thickness-dependent, and not a combination we would quote without seeing the substrate.

Can you put electrodes on the chip?

Yes — patterned metal electrodes deposited directly onto the glass, for EWOD, impedance measurement, electrophoresis and heating. The device leaves here finished rather than as a blank awaiting a metallization vendor.

What is the lead time?

4 to 6 weeks as standard. Devices combining several processes — DRIE plus laser vias plus electrodes plus multi-layer bonding — are evaluated case by case and quoted with a stated date.

Is glass worth the cost over plastic?

It depends entirely on the assay. Glass buys UV transmission, negligible autofluorescence, full chemical inertness and pressure capability. If the application does not need those, an injection-molded cyclic olefin is cheaper at volume and faster to change. We would rather say so at quote stage than after tooling.

Glass microfluidic device for cell biology assays.jpg

Service \ Scale-up manufacturing \ Glass microfluidics

GLASS MICROFLUIDICS

Q: Laser, or DRIE?

Whichever suits the feature, and often both on the same part. DRIE is the route for masked channels, wells and pillar arrays where the sidewall has to stand up, and it is a batch process, so cost falls with wafer count. Femtosecond laser writing followed by selective etch is the route for three-dimensional geometry, through-glass vias and high aspect ratios that no mask can reach. We will tell you which one each feature belongs to at DFM.

Q: My device is part glass and part silicon. Who handles that?

We do, across two pages. Silicon device work — lithography, deposition, deep etching, wafer bonding and dicing — sits on the MEMS page. Glass forming and glass-to-silicon anodic bonding are run here. Many devices use both: silicon for the etched structure and its thermal conductivity, glass for the optical window. Send the stack and we will route it internally rather than asking you to place two orders.

Custom design, prototyping and contract manufacturing of glass microfluidic devices.

MATERIAL

Borosilicate · Fused silica · Soda-lime

MINIMUM ORDER

One wafer/slide

LEAD TIME

4–6 weeks

Get a quote

Book a design review

\ OVERVIEW

Glass microfluidics

Glass serves devices that plastics cannot — those that require deep-UV excitation or near-zero autofluorescence, handle aggressive solvents, or operate at pressures and temperatures that would deform a polymer.

We fabricate glass microfluidics two ways: photolithography with deep reactive-ion etching for channels, wells and pillar arrays with vertical sidewalls, and femtosecond-laser selective etching for three-dimensional geometry and through-glass vias (TGVs).

Finishing stays in house, from drilling and electrode patterning through bonding, dicing and inspection.

Orders start at a single wafer or slide, and the same processes carry a design from prototype to volume production.

1 µm

minimum feature size

Ra < 2 nm

polished substrate surface

≥ 50:1

through-glass via aspect ratio

2 routes

Femtosecond laser machining, DRIE

ISO 13485

Certified · FDA registered

\ CAPABILITIES

Capabilities and Technical Specifications

DEEP ETCHING — MICROSTRUCTURE

Substrate thickness

0.1–2.0 mm

Thickness uniformity

±5 µm

Surface roughness (Ra)

< 2 nm on polished surfaces. As-etched channel floors are rougher, quoted per feature

Channel size

Length ≥ 50 µm; width ≥ 10 µm

Minimum feature size

1 µm

DEEP ETCHING — MICROWELL AND PILLAR ARRAYS

Feature size, well or pillar

Down to 2 µm

Aperture diameter

> 0.1 µm

Aperture uniformity

CV < 5%

Aspect ratio

< 10

Sidewall tilt angle

80–90°

Hole pitch

> 0.1 µm

LASER MACHINING — GLASS DRILLING

Aperture diameter

0.04–10 mm

Edge chipping

< 3 µm

Position accuracy

±25 µm

LASER MACHINING — THROUGH-GLASS VIAS (TGV)

Aspect ratio

≥ 50:1, material-dependent

Minimum aperture

< 5 µm, material- and thickness-dependent

Via geometries

Straight · tapered · conical · special-shaped

BONDING

Bonding process

Laser · UV · anodic · PSA bonding

Alignment accuracy

±10 µm on aligned multilayer work

Material combinations

Glass-to-glass · glass-to-silicon · glass-to-polymer

Downstream

Dicing to form factor, surface functionalization, integration into assembled devices

Equipment — FLEE-TGV femtosecond laser platform

FLEE-TGV femtosecond laser system used for selective etching of glass

A femtosecond-laser-enhanced glass-via platform for high-precision through-glass microstructures. The laser writes a modified track through the glass and a selective post-etch develops it, which is how vias reach aspect ratios and wall qualities that direct ablation or wet etching alone cannot. Automated wafer calibration and a fully automated workflow support production runs of straight, tapered and conical vias.

Wafer size

4–12 inch

Glass thickness

0.1–1 mm

Processing rate

≥ 5,000 holes/s

Taper angle

1–10° Material-dependent

Positioning accuracy

±5 µm

\ MATERIALS

Glass types

We choose the glass to match the device's optical window, bonding route and thermal budget.

The properties below are typical published values for each glass family; the specific grade is confirmed during DFM review.

A borosilicate wafer catching light.jpeg

Borosilicate (e.g. Borofloat 33)

OPTICAL WINDOW

CTE(ppm/K)

~350–2000 nm, > 90% visible

~3.3

NOTABLE PROPERTY

Contains mobile alkali ions — the standard anodic-bonding glass

Typical use:

General microfluidics, glass-to-silicon devices, flow cells

Fused silica / quartz

OPTICAL WINDOW

CTE(ppm/K)

~190–2500 nm — deep UV

~0.55

NOTABLE PROPERTY

Highest purity and lowest autofluorescence; extremely low expansion

Typical use:

UV excitation, single-molecule detection, high-temperature work

Soda-lime

OPTICAL WINDOW

CTE(ppm/K)

~320 nm and above

~9

NOTABLE PROPERTY

Lowest cost; higher autofluorescence than borosilicate

Typical use:

Cost-sensitive devices with visible-range detection only

Thin display glass (alkali-free alumino-borosilicate)

OPTICAL WINDOW

CTE(ppm/K)

Visible and near-UV

~3–7

NOTABLE PROPERTY

Available in very thin sheet, 0.03–1.1 mm

Typical use:

Imaging-side windows, high-NA objectives, thin flow cells

Fused Silica Bonding Limits

Fused silica lacks alkali ions required for anodic bonding, needing alternative routes like laser or adhesive. Borosilicate is required when silicon anodic bonding is mandatory.

Soda-Lime Optical Trade-Offs

Soda-lime blocks UV (<320 nm) and exhibits higher fluorescence, making it unsuitable for optics. While low-cost, it degrades performance in UV or fluorescence assays.

Materials guide ❯

Grade-level data across every substrate we run, and the three questions that decide material choice

MEMS manufacturing ❯

Lithography, deposition, deep etching and wafer bonding

Glass vs. Thermoplastic vs. PDMS

Choose glass when the application needs deep-UV transmission, near-zero autofluorescence, chemical inertness or high pressure; choose molded cyclic olefin (COC/COP) when it does not and volume matters. Choose PDMS for rapid prototyping, high-fidelity replication and applications such as organ-on-a-chip.

Glass

OPTICAL TRANSMISSION

Excellent, including UV in fused silica

AUTOFLUORESCENCE

Negligible

CHEMICAL RESISTANCE

Excellent — solvents, acids, bases

PRESSURE AND TEMPERATURE

Highest of the three

ROUTE TO VOLUME

Batch etch at wafer scale

RELATIVE UNIT COST

High

Thermoplastic

OPTICAL TRANSMISSION

Good visible; UV poor in PC and PS

AUTOFLUORESCENCE

Low in COC/COP, high in PC

CHEMICAL RESISTANCE

Grade-dependent; poor to non-polar solvents

PRESSURE AND TEMPERATURE

Limited by Tg

ROUTE TO VOLUME

Injection molding

RELATIVE UNIT COST

Lowest at volume

PDMS

OPTICAL TRANSMISSION

Good visible

AUTOFLUORESCENCE

Low

CHEMICAL RESISTANCE

Swells in non-polar solvents

PRESSURE AND TEMPERATURE

Lowest

ROUTE TO VOLUME

Casting

RELATIVE UNIT COST

Medium

\ PROCESS

Glass fabrication process

Two forming routes, DRIE and femtosecond laser, chosen on the feature and each scalable to production; both merge into one finishing line (steps 4‑8). One partner throughout, under ISO 13485.

Route A Photolithography and DRIE — masked features with vertical sidewalls

Engineers reviewing a glass microfluidic chip layout for etch bias and dicing lanes during DFM review

Design & DFM

Substrate and bond selected together; checked against etch bias and dicing lanes.

Free DFM review

Photolithography

Mask and resist define the features to be etched.

1 µm min. feature

Deep reactive-ion etching of glass channels with 80–90° sidewalls

DRIE / wet etch

Etched to depth; sidewalls held vertical.

Sidewalls 80–90°

Route B Femtosecond laser and selective etch — 3D geometry, through-glass vias

Engineers reviewing a glass microfluidic chip layout on screen

Design & DFM

Geometry written as a laser file; substrate and thickness confirmed for the aspect ratio.

Free DFM review

Laser writing

The femtosecond laser writes a modified track through the glass.

≥ 5,000 holes/s

Through-glass vias developed by selective post-etch, reaching 50:1 aspect ratio

Selective etch

Post-etch develops the written track into a via or channel.

TGV to 50:1

↓ Both routes merge into common finishing ↓

Finishing Common to both routes

Laser-drilled ports in a glass device, 0.04 to 10 mm aperture with edge chipping under 3 µm

Drilling

Laser drilling of ports, 0.04 to 10 mm, edge chipping under 3 µm.

±25 µm position

Electrodes

Where the device is active: metal deposited and patterned directly on the glass.

EWOD · impedance · heaters

Bonding

Laser, UV, anodic or PSA, chosen for the material pair and thermal budget. Aligned and inspected.

±10 µm alignment

Diced glass microfluidic devices on a tape frame, singulated to customer form factor

Dicing & finishing

Singulation to the customer form factor, edge finishing, cleaning.

Customer form factor

Cleanroom operators performing dimensional and optical inspection before packaging in wafer boxes

Inspection& packaging

Dimensional & optical inspection, leak test, packaging.

Ships in wafer boxes

\ QUALITY CONTROL

Inspection and validation

Feature dimensions

Aperture uniformity

Bond integrity

Quality system

Depth and roughness

Bond alignment

Cleanliness

\ LEAD TIME & MOQ

Lead time, Minimum order and Delivery

Standard lead time

Delivery within 4–6 weeks; complex or multi-process runs are evaluated and quoted individually.

Minimum order

Minimum order starting from just one wafer/slide to support flexible initial prototyping.

Delivery format

Protective film applied to the surface, packed in wafer boxes

Design changes

Design updates rely on mask or laser file edits rather than expensive tooling resets.

\ SHOWCASE

Sample parts and applications

FAQ

Whichever suits the feature, and often both on the same part. DRIE is the route for masked channels, wells and pillar arrays where the sidewall has to stand up, and it is a batch process, so cost falls with wafer count. Femtosecond laser writing followed by selective etch is the route for three-dimensional geometry, through-glass vias and high aspect ratios that no mask can reach. We will tell you which one each feature belongs to at DFM.

We do, across two pages. Silicon device work — lithography, deposition, deep etching, wafer bonding and dicing — sits on the MEMS page. Glass forming and glass-to-silicon anodic bonding are run here. Many devices use both: silicon for the etched structure and its thermal conductivity, glass for the optical window. Send the stack and we will route it internally rather than asking you to place two orders.