Polymerase chain reaction chip with microchannel of glass capillaries embedded

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) chips consume less power and reagent, and are cheaper and easily integrated. In most PCR chips, the heater and the thermometer are placed on the same surface, which causes significant temperature sensing error caused by radiation from the heater. Most microchannels are fabricated through expensive processes of polymer mould-replication, etching or lithography. Some polymers used to form the chamber have bad bio-compatibility and suffer air bubbles when heating. A novel PCR chip with a glass structure is proposed. Grooves are machined on top of the glass substrate, and the glass capillaries are embedded in the grooves to form the static chamber. On the bottom of the glass substrate, the heater is patterned. The substrate with capillaries embedded is covered by a glass slice. The thermometer is fabricated on the bottom surface of the slice. The glass substrate and slice are joined by thermal conductive adhesive. In the PCR chip, the parts except the glass capillaries are reusable. DNA amplification experiments show that the PCR chip works fairly well. The proposed PCR chip has the characteristics of better temperature sensing precision, low cost, no air bubbles, good tightness and bio-compatibility. It is very suitable for home diagnosis use.