Highly parallelized droplet microfluidic apparatus

Abstract

A microfluidic device contains a first layer having a plurality of channels, a second layer having a plurality of droplet makers, and a third layer having a plurality of through-holes connecting the plurality of channels to the plurality of droplet makers. The channels have a height at least 4 times greater than the height of the droplet makers. The microfluidic device has at least 500 droplet makers in an area less than 10 cm 2 . The channels are formed by direct laser-micromachining and the droplet makers are formed by soft lithography molding.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A microfluidic device comprising:
 a first layer comprising at least one flow channel for a continuous phase, at least one flow channel for a disperse phase, and at least one outlet channel;   a second layer comprising a plurality of droplet makers; and   a third layer comprising through-holes connecting the channels of the first layer with the plurality of droplet makers on the second layer;   wherein the plurality of droplet makers are in fluidic communication with the at least one flow channel for the continuous phase, the at least one flow channel for the disperse phase, and the at least one outlet channel, and   wherein the channels on the first layer have a height at least 4 times greater than the height of the droplet makers.   
     
     
         2 . The microfluidic device of  claim 1 , wherein the channels of the first layer are formed by direct laser micromachining and the droplet makers are formed by soft-lithography. 
     
     
         3 . The microfluidic device of  claim 1 , wherein the second layer comprises at least 500 droplet makers in an area less than 10 cm 2 . 
     
     
         4 . The microfluidic device of  claim 1 , wherein the second layer comprises at least 1000 droplet makers in an area less than 10 cm 2 . 
     
     
         5 . The microfluidic device of  claim 1 , wherein the second layer comprises at least 100,000 droplet makers in an area less than 10 cm 2 . 
     
     
         6 . The microfluidic device of  claim 1 , wherein the second layer comprises at least 1,000,000 droplet makers in an area less than 10 cm 2 . 
     
     
         7 . The microfluidic device of  claim 1 , wherein the first, second, and third layers are comprised of a material selected from poly(dimethyl siloxane), silicon, glass, plastic, metal, ceramic, or combinations thereof. 
     
     
         8 . The microfluidic device of  claim 7 , wherein the first, second, and third layers are comprised of a material selected from poly(dimethyl siloxane), silicon, glass, and combinations thereof. 
     
     
         9 . The microfluidic device of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of droplet makers comprise droplet makers selected from flow-focusing droplet makers, T-junction droplet makers, Janus droplet makers, multiple emulsion droplet makers, and combinations thereof. 
     
     
         10 . The microfluidic device of  claim 1 , wherein the device comprises a single flow channel for the continuous phase, a single channel for the disperse phase, and a single channel for the outlet. 
     
     
         11 . A method of fabricating a microfluidic device comprising:
 forming a plurality of channels in a first layer, wherein the plurality of channels comprises at least one continuous phase channel, at least one disperse phase channel, and at least one outlet channel;   forming a plurality of droplet makers in a second layer, wherein each of the plurality of channels has a height at least 4 times greater than the height of each of the plurality of droplet makers; and   bonding the first layer and the second layer to a third layer, wherein the third layer comprises a plurality of through-holes fluidically connecting the plurality of channels in the first layer to the plurality of droplet makers in the second layer.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein forming a plurality of channels in the first layer comprises direct laser micromachining the plurality of channels. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein forming the plurality of droplet makers in the second layer comprises soft-lithography molding the droplet makers. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising forming the plurality of through-holes in the third layer by direct laser micromachining. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein bonding the first layer and the second layer to a third layer comprises applying a layer of poly(dimethyl siloxane) to the third layer and curing the layer of poly(dimethyl siloxane) to bond the layers. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the first, second, and third layers are comprised of a material selected from poly(dimethyl siloxane), silicon, glass, plastic, metal, ceramic, or combinations thereof 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the second layer comprises at least 500 droplet makers in an area less than 10 cm 2 . 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the second layer comprises at least 1000 droplet makers in an area less than 10 cm 2 . 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the second layer comprises at least 100,000 droplet makers in an area less than 10 cm 2 . 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the second layer comprises at least 1,000,000 droplet makers in an area less than 10 cm 2 .