Optical nondestructive dynamic measurements of wafer-scale encapsulated nanofluidic channels

Nanofluidic channels are of great interest for DNA sequencing, chromatography, and drug delivery. However, metrology of embedded or sealed nanochannels and measurement of their fill-state have remained extremely challenging. Existing techniques have been restricted to optical microscopy, which suffe...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied optics (2004) 2018-05, Vol.57 (15), p.4337
Main Authors: Liberman, Vladimir, Smith, Melissa, Weaver, Isaac, Rothschild, Mordechai
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Deoxyribonucleic acid
DNA
Drug delivery systems
Ellipsometry
Fluid dynamics
Fluid flow
Fluidics
Gene sequencing
Monitoring
Nanochannels
Nanofluids
Optical microscopy
Scanning electron microscopy
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Summary:Nanofluidic channels are of great interest for DNA sequencing, chromatography, and drug delivery. However, metrology of embedded or sealed nanochannels and measurement of their fill-state have remained extremely challenging. Existing techniques have been restricted to optical microscopy, which suffers from insufficient resolution, or scanning electron microscopy, which cannot measure sealed or embedded channels without cleaving the sample. Here, we demonstrate a novel method for accurately extracting nanochannel cross-sectional dimensions and monitoring fluid filling, utilizing spectroscopic ellipsometric scatterometry, combined with rigorous electromagnetic simulations. Our technique is capable of measuring channel dimensions with better than 5-nm accuracy and assessing channel filling within seconds. The developed technique is, thus, well suited for both process monitoring of channel fabrication as well as for studying complex phenomena of fluid flow through nanochannel structures.
ISSN:1559-128X
2155-3165
DOI:10.1364/AO.57.004337