Analysis of nano channel formation in quartz cubes by laser-induced process

A novel laser processing technique was developed for making channels in the nano regime in this paper. A Nd:YAG laser was used to dry fabricate micro channels (25μm∼100 μm diameter) in a 1 cm³ fused silica substrate by thermal-induced processing. By controlling the locations of these initiating micro channels on a silica cube, 1D-controllable self-connecting nano fractures can be formed as rectangular channels. These nano channels are smooth and with extremely high aspect ratio (∼10⁴ depth to width ratio). A possible mechanism is proposed to explain the formation of the nano channels. This laser-based nano channel fabrication technique is fast and inexpensive, and with potential applications in capillary electrophoresis and electro-osmosis driven nano-filtration. The project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (50375031) and the Hong Kong Research Grants Council (CUHK 4416/99E)