SINGLE-PIECE REACTION VESSEL MADE OF GLASS, PRODUCTION METHOD, AND ANALYSIS METHOD

Abstract

A method of production of glass reaction vessels includes irradiating a laser beam of a wavelength for which a first glass plate is transparent onto the surface of the first glass plate. The first hiss plate is etched. Etching of the first glass plate is terminated when the recesses extend, over only a portion of the thickness of the first glass plate and therefore the recesses have a bottom formed in the first glass plate as a single piece.

Claims

1. A method of production of a plurality of glass reaction vessels formed as recesses in a single-piece first glass plate, comprising the steps of: irradiation of laser pulses at spaced positions of a wavelength for which the glass plate is transparent onto in each case the locations of the glass plate at which in each case a recess is to be produced as a reaction vessel, the focal position of the laser pulses being adjusted such that the focus of the laser pulses does not extend over the entire thickness of the first glass plate, etching the glass plate for a duration of time sufficient to create recesses having a depth along the locations to create the recesses, wherein the etching of the glass plate is terminated when the depth of the recesses is only a portion of the thickness of the first glass plate and therefore the recesses a bottom formed single-piece in the first glass plate, wherein a concave depression is formed in the bottom at each position of a location.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the depth of the recesses is at least 30 μm.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the recesses an aspect ratio of at least 2 from depth to diameter measured in the plane of the first surface.

4. The method according to claim 1, irradiated with laser pulses at a plurality of equally spaced positions at the locations at which a recess is to be produced.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein at a share of the positions laser pulses are irradiated less deeply into a first thickness section into the first glass plate by adjusting the focus position of the laser pulses so that the focus of the laser pulses extends only into the first thickness section, and at a share of the positions laser pulses are irradiated deeper into an adjacent second thickness section in the first glass plate by adjusting the focal position of the laser pulses such that the focus of the laser pulses extends only into the second thickness section, wherein during etching a recess extending over the first thickness section is formed and partial recesses spaced by partial walls and extending over the second thickness section are formed.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein positions are arranged at a distance of at maximum 10 μm, wherein at least three positions are spaced by at least 20 μm from one another.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the laser pulses are irradiated onto the glass plate with an intensity such that they modify the glass plate up to the focal position.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein a laser beam is irradiated along a circumferentially closed path at the locations of the first glass plate where a recess is to be produced.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the laser beam, which is irradiated on a circumferentially closed path, is formed by laser beam pulses irradiated side by side.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein at least one side of the first glass plate is coated with an etching resist prior to the etching.

11. of the method according to claim 10, wherein the etching is performed until a chamfer circling the recess is formed adjacent to the surface coated with etch resist.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein strip conductors are applied to the glass plate which cover at least a portion of the inner wall of the recesses.

13. Reaction vessels formed as recesses of glass comprising a depth of the recesses of at least 30 μm in a glass plate and an aspect ratio of at least 2 of depth to diameter measured in the plane of a first surface of the glass plate (1), wherein the recesses are enclosed by walls the end faces of which the end faces are arranged in a common plane and form the first surface of the first glass plate from which the recesses are worked off, wherein the recesses do not extend over the entire thickness of the glass plate and the bottoms of the recesses are formed by material of the glass plate and at least three concave depressions are formed in the bottom of at least one recess in each case.

14. Reaction vessels according to claim 13, wherein the bottoms of the reaction vessels are formed by adjacent recesses arranged side by side in a plane parallel to the first surface and parallel to the plane of the second surface opposite thereto.

15. Reaction vessels according to claim 13, comprising least one further recess formed in the bottoms of the recesses that extends to a greater depth into the first glass plate.

16. Reaction vessels according to claim 13, wherein the bottoms have at least one glass tip formed in a single piece from the first glass plate for use as an optical waveguide for near-field illumination of the recess, which tip extends into the recess perpendicularly to the first surface of the first glass plate.

17. (canceled)

18. (canceled)

Description

[0044] The figures show schematically in

[0045] FIG. 1 in cross-section perpendicular to the surface of the first glass plate, an embodiment of the reaction vessels in a single-piece glass plate,

[0046] FIG. 2, in top view onto the first surface of the glass plate, the optical analysis of a reaction vessel produced according to the invention, and in

[0047] FIG. 3a), b), c) show further embodiments in cross-section perpendicular to the surface of the first glass plate.

[0048] FIG. 1 shows a recess 2 in a first glass plate 1, which can be produced by etching a first glass plate 1 after irradiation with a pulsed laser beam. Therein, the bottom 3 shows concave depressions which have an approximately parabolic cross-section. Such concave depressions are formed at each position 12 at which a laser beam has been irradiated punctiformly. Presently, a bottom 3 having concave depressions is obtained by spot-irradiating laser beams at positions at intervals corresponding to the spacing of the centers of the depressions. Etching, which follows subsequent to the irradiation, removes the areas of the first glass plate 1 between the positions. For this single-piece embodiment, the laser beam irradiated onto the first surface 4 may be set up to penetrate only up to a portion of the volume of the first glass plate 1, and/or the second surface 5 opposite to the first surface 4 may be coated all-over with etch resist.

[0049] FIG. 2 in top view onto a glass plate 1 shows a recess 2 the wall of which forms a strong optical contrast with the bottom 3, so that the wall is clearly shown as a circumferential boundary of the bottom 3. A particle, e.g. a biological cell Z, can be seen with clear contrast against the bottom 3 when illuminated through the bottom 3, especially when the cell Z is marked by a dye, e.g. a fluorescent dye.

[0050] FIG. 3 shows embodiments of each of a recess 2 produced as a single piece in a glass plate 1. This shows that the irradiation of laser pulses onto the first surface 4 of the glass plate 1 at a plurality of positions spaced apart by, e.g., 1 to 10 μm and therefore forming a location at which exactly one recess 2 is produced by etching. Therein, by etching at each position 12 on the bottom 3 of the recess 2 a respective concave depression may have been produced as a partial recess 2′.

[0051] As shown in FIG. 3a), a glass tip 11 projecting perpendicular to the first surface 4 from the bottom 3 into the recess 2 is produced during etching if at least 3 positions 12 at which laser pulses are irradiated are arranged at a greater distance, e.g. at a distance of 20 μm. Therein, each position 12 at which a laser pulse was irradiated results in a concave depression or partial depression 2′ in the bottom 3 during etching.

[0052] FIG. 3b) shows that laser pulses irradiated at individual positions 13 and penetrating deeper into the thickness of the glass plate 1 during etching form further recesses 14 there, which extend deeper into the glass plate 1 than the depression at other positions 12 where laser pulses were irradiated to a lesser depth into the glass plate 1. The depth of penetration of the laser pulses into the glass plate 1 can be predetermined by adjusting the focus position and/or the strength of the pulse energy of the laser pulses.

[0053] FIG. 3c) shows that the irradiation of laser pulses penetrating deeper into the glass plate 1 at positions 13 arranged side by side during etching there forms another recess 14 extending deeper into the thickness of the glass plate 1 than the recess of which bottom 3 is formed during etching from other positions 12 where the laser pulses have been irradiated less deeply into the glass plate 1.

TABLE-US-00001 List of reference signs:  1 Glass plate  2 Recess  2′ Partial recess  3   Bottom  4 First surface  5 Second surface  7 longitudinal center axis  8 Etch resist 11 Glass tip 12 Position of irradiated laser pulse 13 Position of deeper irradiated laser pulse 14   Further recess 20 Upper, first thickness section 21 Lower, second thickness section Z Cell