Bonding of glass nanofluidic chips at room temperature by a one-step surface activation using an O2/CF4 plasma treatment

A technical bottleneck to the broadening of applications of glass nanofluidic chips is bonding, due to the strict conditions, especially the extremely high temperatures (similar to 1000 degrees C) and the high vacuum required in the current glass-to-glass fusion bonding method. Herein, we report a strong, nanostructure-friendly, and high pressure-resistant bonding method, performed at room temperature (RT, similar to 25 degrees C) for glass nanofluidic chips, using a one-step surface activation process with an O-2/CF4 gas mixture plasma treatment. The developed RT bonding method is believed to be able to conquer the technical bottleneck in bonding in nanofluidic fields.