Low temperature encapsulation of nanochannels with water inside

This paper presents a novel process to encapsulate nanochannels with a very high length/height aspect ratio (750 μm/300 nm) for nanofluidic devices. We use low temperature lamination of dry film resist (DFR) to encapsulate wet etched nanochannels with water inside. With this method stiction can be prevented as no drying steps are used. In addition, the presence of water inside the nanochannels makes it easier to inject other liquids into them, precluding air bubble entrapment during operation. We have successfully applied this process to encapsulate wet etched 300nm high nanochannels which can be used for DNA analysis.