JP2007307643A - Method and device for affixing together - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a device for affixing together two members having a micro-structural part with the mating surfaces in alignment while bubbles are prevented from intruding. <P>SOLUTION: The device is composed of: (1) a first holder to hold a first member having a flat and smooth surface α and a micro-structural part a on the surface α; (2) a second holder to hold a second, flexible member having a flat and smooth surface β and a micro-structural part b on the surface β; (3) a position sensing mechanism to sense the positional relation between the first member and the second member; (4) an aligning mechanism to coordinate the positions of the first member and the second member; and (5) a gas lead-in hole to lead in the gas to between the second member and the second holder, and is equipped with a function to affix together the two members by introducing the gas from the lead-in hole to one part between the second member and the second holder and thereby inflating the second member toward the first member. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  In the present invention, a member having a fine structure portion on the surface and a flexible plate-like or film-like member which also has a fine structure portion on the surface are used as the bonding surface. The present invention relates to a laminating apparatus for laminating and aligning each other, and a laminating method for laminating the above members with their positions aligned with each other. The present invention can be preferably applied to a manufacturing method of a microfluidic device.

  A microfluidic device is a device that has a fine capillary channel in a member and performs reaction and analysis in the channel. A typical manufacturing method is to attach a plate-like or film-like member serving as a cover to a groove-forming surface of a plate-like or film-like member having a groove, whereby a capillary-like flow is formed between the groove and the cover. A manufacturing method for forming a path. In this case, since precise positioning of the two members is not necessary, in the manufacture of a glass microfluidic device, a method of simply compressing and heat-sealing is widely used. Further, when at least one of the two members is sticky, for example, when it is a sticky polymer member or a member to which an adhesive is applied, both members are contacted in order from the end. It is possible to stack without leaving bubbles in between.

  On the other hand, the microfluidic device has a more complicated structure such as a three-dimensionally intersecting flow path, a valve, a pump mechanism, a filtration mechanism, a flow path with a porous body fixed on the inner wall, and a flow path with a probe fixed on the inner wall. When forming a simple structure, a minute structure portion such as a groove, a hole, a probe fixing portion and a porous layer forming portion is also formed on the surface of the member to be the cover, and these positions are aligned and bonded together. There is a need. Therefore, for example, when the member is made of glass, the member is fixed to the upper holder and the lower holder, and both the members are contacted or non-contacted, and the position is optically detected and aligned. In the case of non-contact, an apparatus and a method are known in which the gap between the two members is reduced, and the two members are brought into close contact with each other and heated and fused.

  However, when at least one of the member having a minute structure on the surface or the member having a minute structure on the surface is sticky like a semi-cured resin, or extremely thin to the extent that the adhesive does not flow, For example, when the coating is applied to a thickness of 0.5 to 5 μm, the mutual position cannot be shifted in the contact state, the positions are aligned in a non-contact state, and the gap between the two members is in a parallel state. In the method of maintaining the shrinkage and bringing it into contact, bubbles tend to enter the bonding surface, and a fine capillary channel cannot be formed well. In addition, precise positioning could not be performed by the method of overlapping the members so as to contact each other in order.

  On the other hand, in Patent Document 1, an adhesive is applied annularly along the end portions of the opposing surfaces of the first substrate and the second substrate, and is formed by the adhesive and both substrates. As a manufacturing apparatus of a liquid crystal display device in which a liquid crystal material is filled in a gap of a thickness of, a vacuum container, a first suction mechanism that holds the entire lower surface of the first substrate by vacuum suction, and a second substrate A second suction mechanism that holds the entire upper surface by vacuum suction, and when the pressure in the vacuum container is reduced, the second suction mechanism and the second substrate are lowered vertically in the vacuum container. A first pressurizing mechanism having a first pressurizing force that brings the lower surface of the second substrate into contact with the liquid crystal material or the adhesive, and when the atmospheric pressure in the vacuum container is reduced, The second suction mechanism and the second substrate are further lowered in the vertical direction, and the second substrate A liquid crystal display device comprising: a second pressurizing mechanism having a second pressurizing force larger than the first pressurizing force, which is bonded to the first substrate via an adhesive and pressurizes until a predetermined interval is reached. A manufacturing apparatus is disclosed.

  However, when a vacuum container is used, there is no risk of bubbles entering the bonding surface, but the bonding apparatus becomes large and the throughput of the bonding process tends to decrease.

  Also, in Patent Document 2, as a liquid crystal display manufacturing apparatus, a lower pressure bonding jig is disposed on a lower fixing jig, and the first substrate and the second substrate are placed on the lower pressure bonding jig. Stacked empty cells and intermediate pressure bonding jigs are alternately stacked, and an upper pressure bonding jig and an upper fixing jig are sequentially disposed on the bonding empty cell located at the uppermost position, and each individual A sheet is provided on the crimping jig, a heater is provided on the sheet, and a plurality of sheets having substantially the same shape and a plurality of bonded empty cells having substantially the same shape are alternately stacked, and a fluid is allowed to flow in the sheet. A pressure bonding apparatus is disclosed in which a plurality of liquid crystal display-bonded empty cells are pressure-bonded simultaneously by expansion of the sheet.

  However, in this case, a member corresponding to the first substrate and the second substrate is laminated in advance to produce a bonded empty cell and then crimped. In this way, the width is small so that the bonded part is only the peripheral part of the two substrates, and when the adhesive is applied to a flowable thickness, it is possible to expel bubbles by pressure bonding. However, when a member having a defective portion that becomes a fine flow path is bonded together like a microfluidic device, if the adhesive is applied to such an extent that it flows, the defective portion is filled with the adhesive. As a result, the fine flow path is blocked. That is, with this manufacturing apparatus and manufacturing method, it was impossible to bond the entire surface of the microfluidic device member excluding the minute defects without leaving bubbles.

JP 2001-051284 A Japanese Patent No. 3439787

  The problem to be solved by the present invention is that at least one of a member having a fine structure portion on the surface and a flexible plate-like or film-like member also having a fine structure portion on the surface is adhesive. Even if it is not possible to shift the position after bringing both members into contact, as in the case of, without using a vacuum vessel, align the positions so that bubbles do not enter between the members. It is in providing the bonding apparatus and the bonding method. In particular, an object of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing a microfluidic device including a step of bonding the above-described members.

  The inventors have a first member that is a member having a fine structure portion on the surface and a second member that is a flexible plate-like or film-like member that also has a fine structure portion on the surface. After maintaining a slight gap and aligning the relative positions, gas is introduced into the back side of the bonding surface of the second member to inflate the second member in the direction of the first member, and from the center to the periphery It has been found that the above-mentioned problem can be solved by bringing the first member into contact with the first member in order from one end to the other end, and bonding the two members together.

That is, the present invention has a first member having a smooth surface α and a fine structure portion a on the smooth surface α, a smooth surface β and a fine structure portion b on the smooth surface β. And a flexible plate-like or film-like second member,
A bonding apparatus for adjusting and bonding the positional relationship between the fine structure portion a and the fine structure portion b using the surface α and the surface β as a bonding surface;
(1) a first holder having a mechanism for holding the first member;
(2) a second holder having a mechanism facing the first holder and holding the second member;
(3) A position detection mechanism for detecting a positional relationship between the first member held by the first holder and the second member held by the second holder in a plane parallel to the bonding surface. (4) an alignment mechanism that adjusts the position of the first member held by the first holder and the second member held by the second holder in a plane parallel to the bonding surface; 5) A gas introduction port for introducing gas between the second member and the second holder in a state where the second member is held by the second holder,
The first holder and the second member are held by the first holder and the second holder, respectively, so that the surface α and the surface β face each other,
When a gas is introduced from the gas inlet to a part between the second member and the second holder and the second member is expanded in the first member direction, a part of the second member is the first member. The bonding apparatus is characterized in that the second member is bonded to the first member by contacting with one member and then sequentially contacting from the contacted portion to the peripheral portion. .

Moreover, this invention uses (1) said bonding apparatus,
(2) The first member is held by the first holder so that the surface α faces the second holder,
(3) The second member is held by the second holder so that the surface β faces the surface α,
(4) The positional detection mechanism detects a positional relationship between the first member and the second member in a plane parallel to the bonding surface,
(5) By the alignment mechanism, the first member and the second member are aligned in a plane parallel to the bonding surface,
(6) Gas is introduced from the gas introduction port into a part between the second member and the second holder, and the second member is expanded in the direction of the first member. Contacting with the first member;
Then, the said 2nd member is bonded together to the said 1st member by making it contact sequentially from the said contact part to a peripheral part, The bonding method characterized by the above-mentioned is provided.

  In the present invention, at least one of a member having a fine structure portion on the surface and a flexible plate-like or film-like member also having a fine structure portion on the surface is adhesive. Even if it is not possible to align the mutual position by bringing both members into contact with each other, a bonding apparatus that aligns and bonds the positions so that bubbles do not enter between the members without using a vacuum vessel, In addition, it is possible to provide a bonding method in which the positions are bonded together. The present invention can also provide a method for manufacturing a microfluidic device, which includes a step of bonding a member having a fine concave structure on the surface thereof in alignment.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to the embodiments shown in FIGS.
[First holder]
FIG. 1 shows a plan view of the first holder 1 and a sectional view of part A. The first holder 1 of this aspect includes a vacuum groove type vacuum chuck 3 as a mechanism (referred to as a first member holding mechanism 3) for holding (fixing) the first member 11. Although the width | variety of a vacuum groove is arbitrary, the width | variety of this vacuum groove is 0.03-0.5 mm, More preferably, 0.05-0.5 so that it can respond also when the 1st member 11 is a flexible film form. It is preferable to make it as thin as about 0.3 mm, and instead of a vacuum groove, a pore in which a large number of minute holes having a diameter of about 0.03 to 1 mm, more preferably 0.05 to 0.5 mm are formed. It is also preferable to use a porous vacuum chuck (not shown) using a porous body having an average pore diameter of 0.1 to 100 μm, such as a vacuum chuck (not shown) of the type or a sintered metal body. The method by which the first member holding mechanism 3 holds the first member is arbitrary. In addition to the above, for example, mechanical fixing by a clamp or a screw, fixing by adhesive force, electrostatic force or magnetic force, cooling and solidification of liquid such as wax It may be fixed by. As shown in FIG. 4, the vacuum chuck 3 is used by being connected to a vacuum 24 and an atmosphere 25 via a switching valve 21. When a fixing method by cooling and solidifying liquid such as wax is used as the first member holding mechanism 3, a heating mechanism for releasing the fixing can be provided. In the case of using a magnetic force, the first member 11 is used by adhering to a temporary support such as a plate or film formed of a ferromagnetic material with an adhesive force. When a holding method using adhesive force, electrostatic force, or magnetic force is used, the strength of the holding force is set to be weaker than the adhesive strength and final fixing strength of the first member 11 and the second member 12. In this case, the fixing can be released by peeling after the two members are attached.

When the first member 11 is plate-like or film-like as in the example shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the first holder 1 has a first member fixing surface of the first holder 1 that is flat and horizontally Preferably they are arranged. In general, if the first holder 1 can hold the first member 11 with the surface to be bonded to the second member 12 (referred to as a bonding surface) facing outward, the shape of the first member 11 It may be of any shape according to
The first holder 1 shown in FIG. 1 has a hole 4 in the center, and through the hole 4, for example, positioning marks 107 and 108 of the first member 11 as shown in FIGS. The positioning marks 117 and 118 of the second member 12 can be optically observed and positioned. The holes 4 may be a plurality of smaller holes. If the first holder 1 is made of an optically transparent material such as glass or transparent plastic, the holes 4 may not be provided.

[Second holder]
[First embodiment]
FIG. 2 shows a plan view and a cross-sectional view of part A of the first mode of the second holder 2. In the first mode of the second holder 2, the mechanism for holding the second member 12 (referred to as the second member holding mechanism 5) is annular. The second member holding mechanism 5 may be substantially annular, may be partially interrupted, or may have a shape in which a large number of points are arranged in an annular shape.
As shown in FIG. 2, the second member holding mechanism 5 is preferably a porous body type vacuum chuck 5 using a porous body 6 on the adsorption surface, but the fixing method is arbitrary, such as a pore type or vacuum groove. In addition to the vacuum chuck of the type, for example, mechanical fixing such as a detachable clamp by electromagnetic or pressure gas, fixing by adhesive force, or fixing by cooling and solidifying liquid such as wax may be used. As shown in FIG. 4, the vacuum chuck 5 is used by being connected to a vacuum 24 and an atmosphere 25 via a switching valve 22.

  The inner diameter of the ring of the second member holding mechanism 5 is arbitrary, and may be a suitable dimension from the outer dimension of the microfluidic device to be manufactured. For example, 80% or less of the length of one side of the second member is preferable, It is more preferably 70% or less, and most preferably 60% or less. The lower limit of the inner diameter is arbitrary, but is preferably 10% or more of the maximum diameter of the second member, more preferably 20% or more, and most preferably 30% or more from the viewpoint of reducing bubbles remaining on the bonding surface. The outer diameter of the ring of the second member holding mechanism 5 is arbitrary, and may be the same as the length of the second member, or the outer diameter is made larger than the second member and covered with the second member. A method in which a dummy plate-like or film-like member is placed in a non-existing portion to eliminate air leakage is also preferable.

The second holder 2 is provided with a gas inlet 7 inside the ring of the annular second member holding mechanism 5. The form and shape of the gas introduction port 7 are arbitrary, and a structure similar to that of the vacuum chuck can be exemplified in addition to one hole. However, as shown in FIG. 2, the gas is introduced through the porous body 8. A porous gas inlet 7 is preferred.
It is preferable that the gas inlet 7 also serves as a vacuum chuck. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the gas inlet 7 also serving as a vacuum chuck can be implemented by a method of connecting to a vacuum 24 and a pressurized gas 26 via a switching valve 23.

When the second holder 2 of the first mode is used, the second member 12 is fixed (held) by the second member holding mechanism 5 while the gas is introduced from the gas inlet 7 to the back side of the bonding surface of the second member 12 (first When it is introduced into a part between the two members 12 and the second holder 2 (hereinafter sometimes simply referred to as “back side”), the second member 12 is deformed so that the central portion swells in a spherical shape (FIG. 5B). ).
Next, when the fixation of the second member holding mechanism 5 (vacuum chuck 5) is released, the second member separates from the second holder and is bonded to the first member (FIG. 5C).

  The gas inlet 7 may have a substantially annular structure that also serves as a vacuum chuck, and another gas inlet (not shown) may be provided inside the ring, which may be further multi-staged. In these cases, residual gas bubbles on the bonding surfaces of the first member 11 and the second member 12 can be further reduced by sequentially introducing gas from the innermost gas inlet to the outer gas inlet. Can do. Conversely, the vacuum chuck type second member holding mechanism 5 may have the function of a gas inlet. For example, it can be implemented by connecting the switching valve 22 to the pressurized gas 26 instead of the atmosphere 25 in FIG. In that case, gas is finally introduced from this gas inlet.

  It is preferable to provide a control mechanism with a delay timer or a sequencer for performing introduction of gas into the gas introduction mechanism and release of fixing of the second member holding mechanism 5 at suitable timing, because reproducibility is increased. When the second member holding mechanism 5 uses a fixing method by cooling and solidifying a liquid such as wax, the fixing can be released by heating. When a fixing method using an adhesive force or an electrostatic force is used as the second member holding mechanism 5, if the adhesive force or the electrostatic force is set to a suitable holding force, the gas is introduced from the gas introduction mechanism 7 and the first The two members 12 are peeled off from the second holder 2 naturally.

[Second embodiment]
FIG. 3 shows a plan view and a cross-sectional view of part A of the second mode of the second holder. In the second aspect, the second member holding mechanism is provided at both ends of the second holder, and the gas inlet 7 is disposed therebetween. The second member holding mechanisms 5, 5 ′ are not necessarily parallel. As the second member holding mechanism 5 and 5 ′, the porous vacuum chucks 5 and 5 ′ are preferably used in FIG. 3, but other methods as described in the first embodiment may be used. .

  The structure of the gas introduction port 7 is arbitrary as in the first embodiment, but a mechanism for introducing gas into the back side of the second member through the porous body 8 is preferable, and a structure also serving as a vacuum chuck is preferable. The structure of the gas inlet 7 also serving as a vacuum chuck is the same as in the first aspect. The distance between the two second member holding mechanisms 5, 5 ′ is arbitrary and may be set to a suitable dimension from the outer dimension of the microfluidic device to be manufactured. Is preferably 80% or less, more preferably 70% or less, and most preferably 60% or less. The lower limit of the distance is arbitrary, but it is preferably 10% or more, more preferably 20% or more, and more preferably 30% or more of the length of the second member 12 on the left and right in the drawing in order to reduce bubbles remaining on the bonding surface. Is most preferred. The distance between the outer sides of the two second member holding mechanisms 5, 5 ′ is arbitrary, and may be the same as the length of the second member, or the outer dimension is made larger than the second member, and the second A method of placing a dummy plate-like or film-like member in a portion not covered with the member to eliminate air leakage is also preferable. When the second holder 2 of the second aspect is used, when the second member 12 is fixed by the two second member holding mechanisms 5 and 5 ′ and the gas is ejected from the gas inlet 7, the second member 12 is centered. The part is deformed so as to swell in a cylindrical shape.

  A plurality, preferably three, of the gas inlets 7 may be provided in the left-right direction in the drawing. By sequentially introducing the gas from the central gas inlet to the outer gas inlet, it is possible to further reduce the residual bubbles on the bonding surfaces of the first member 11 and the second member 12. In this case, the plurality of gas inlets 7 do not necessarily have to be parallel. Conversely, the vacuum chuck type second member holding mechanism 5, 5 'may have the function of a gas inlet. In that case, gas is finally introduced from this gas inlet.

[Third embodiment]
The 2nd holder 2 shown in FIG. 3 can be used also as the 2nd holder 2 of a 3rd aspect. In this case, the porous vacuum chuck 5 at the left end of the second holder 2 is used as a second member holding mechanism, and the two porous vacuum chucks 7 and 5 ′ on the right side also serve as gas inlets. Further, more gas inlets may be provided side by side in the left-right direction in the figure. Thereby, it becomes easy to further reduce the remaining of bubbles on the bonding surfaces of the first member 11 and the second member 12. In introducing the gas, the gas is sequentially ejected leftward from the gas inlet 5 ′ (vacuum chuck) at the right end. Also in this case, the plurality of gas inlets 7 do not necessarily have to be parallel. Further, the second member holding mechanism 5 (the leftmost vacuum chuck 5) may have a function of a gas inlet. In that case, gas is finally introduced from this gas inlet.

[Position detection mechanism]
The bonding apparatus of the present invention includes a position detection mechanism 14 that detects a positional relationship between the first member 11 and the second member 12 in a direction parallel to the bonding surface. Although the position detection mechanism 14 is optional, optical detection is preferable, and the positioning marks 107, 108 of the first member 11 and the second member 12 as shown in FIGS. A method of observing 117 and 118 is preferable. Such an optical position detection mechanism 14 is preferably provided in a direction of observing from a direction perpendicular to the bonding surface of the first member 11 because the bonding accuracy is improved.
Other position detection mechanisms 14 include, for example, a mechanism that simultaneously performs mechanical position detection and positioning, such as a positioning pin that abuts the outer periphery of the member, or a positioning pin that is inserted into a hole formed in the member, An electrical detection mechanism that detects non-conduction or capacitance between electrodes can be exemplified.

[Positioning mechanism]
The bonding apparatus of the present invention is a positioning mechanism for aligning the positions of the structural portion of the first member 11 fixed to the first holder 1 and the structural portion of the second member 12 fixed to the second holder 2. 13 The alignment mechanism 13 is preferably an alignment mechanism 13 that relatively moves in a plane parallel to the bonding surface of the first member 11 and the second member 12. In the example of FIG. 4, an XYZθ moving stage 13 capable of moving and rotating in three orthogonal directions is used as the alignment mechanism 13, but generally the second holder 2 is parallel to the bonding surface. In the plane, parallel translation in the X-axis direction (left and right direction in FIG. 4), Y-axis direction (direction perpendicular to the page in FIG. 4), and preferably rotation in the θ direction ( This is a mechanism capable of rotating around the Z-axis in the vertical direction in FIG. When the alignment part of the 1st member 11 and the 2nd member 12 is one point, the movement of (theta) direction is unnecessary. These movement mechanisms in the X, Y, and θ directions may be provided in both the first holder 1 and the second holder 2, or may be provided in either one of the first holder 1 and the second holder. You may share it.

  In the case where the position detection mechanism 14 is a mechanism that performs position detection at the same time as position detection, such as a positioning pin, the position detection mechanism 13 is not a mechanism that moves the first holder 1 or the second holder 2 but a first mechanism. When the member 11 and the second member 12 are mounted on each holder, a mechanism is provided that moves and aligns the X, Y, and θ directions.

  The alignment mechanism 13 preferably has a mechanism that can move in the Z-axis direction, that is, in a direction that changes the distance between the first holder 1 and the second holder 2. By providing the Z-direction moving mechanism (sometimes referred to as a vertical moving mechanism), even if different thickness members are used for the first member and the second member, the distance is adjusted to a suitable constant distance. I can do it. The interval between the first member and the second member is preferably 2 [mm] or less, more preferably 1.5 [mm] or less, and most preferably 1 [mm] or less. By setting it within this range, when the second member is deformed, the displacement is reduced because the second member comes into contact with the first member with a slight deformation. The lower limit is arbitrary as long as it does not contact each other, but is preferably 0.3 [mm] or more, more preferably 0.4 [mm] or more, and most preferably 0.5 [mm] or more. Further, by providing the vertical movement mechanism, the second member is deformed by introducing gas and a part of the second member is brought into contact with the first member, and then the distance between the first member and the second member is reduced by the vertical movement mechanism. By doing so, the alignment error can be reduced. The vertical movement mechanism may be provided in either the first holder 1 or the second holder 2 or in both.

  The alignment accuracy (error) by the position detection mechanism and the alignment mechanism is preferably 0.1 μm to 100 μm, more preferably 0.2 μm to 30 μm, and most preferably 0.3 μm to 10 μm. The error is preferably 1/10 or less, and more preferably 1/30 or less, of the size of the structure portion provided on the first member and the second member to be aligned. By setting this range, the position detection mechanism and the alignment mechanism can be realized with a simple and inexpensive mechanism, and a bonded product such as a microfluidic device can be obtained with sufficient accuracy and reproducibility.

[Other mechanisms]
The posture of the bonding apparatus of the present invention is arbitrary, and for example, it may be upside down in the arrangement illustrated in FIG. The laminating apparatus of the present invention is provided with a control mechanism by a delay timer or a sequencer for carrying out gas introduction to the gas introduction mechanism 7 and releasing the fixation of the second member holding mechanism 5 at a suitable timing. This is preferable because reproducibility is increased.
In addition, when the first member 11 and the second member 12 are formed of a semi-cured energy beam curable resin, the present bonding apparatus performs energy beam irradiation for complete bonding after bonding. It is also preferable to have an energy beam irradiation device. In this case, it is preferable that the energy beam irradiation device is provided on the first holder side, and the energy beam irradiation can be performed in a state where both members bonded to the first holder are held.

[Microfluidic device]
A member to be bonded by the bonding apparatus and the bonding method of the present invention will be described using an example of a microfluidic device. A microfluidic device that can be preferably manufactured according to the present invention is a device that performs a reaction or analysis in a fine groove-like flow path provided on the surface, or a fine hollow-like flow path provided therein. It is. By using a microfluidic device, it is possible to speed up reactions and analysis, reduce the amount of analysis sample required, save resources and energy, and reduce waste. Using such a microfluidic device, for example, sample pretreatment units such as filtration, extraction, and reaction, separation units such as micro chromatography and micro electrophoresis, and detection units such as fluorescence and visible / ultraviolet absorption Attempts have been made to construct a micro total analysis system (μ-TAS) that analyzes a small amount of sample in the fields of medical diagnosis, biochemical analysis, and chemical analysis. In addition, an application as a reaction apparatus (microreactor) in which a catalyst is fixed to the inner surface of the fine flow path has been studied.

  The microfluidic device produced in the present invention is a microfluidic device having a hollow flow path therein, and has a smooth surface α, a first member having a fine structure portion a on the smooth surface α, A smooth plate β and a flexible plate-like or film-like second member having a fine structural portion b on the smooth surface β are bonded with the surface α and the surface β as a bonding surface. This is a microfluidic device in which the positional relationship between the fine structure portion a and the fine structure portion b is adjusted and bonded together.

  As the fine structure portions a and b on the surface of the member, there are cases where there is a fine structure portion only on the surface and cases where the structure inside the member reaches the surface, for example, lamination bonding with the other member A valve body of a check valve formed by being surrounded by a U-shaped long hole in a part of a film-like member, a groove or a recess that becomes a hollow flow path, a hole made in the member, A physical structure part such as a flap, a filtration membrane, a porous layer formed on a part of the surface of the member, a probe fixed to a part of the surface of the member, and a part of the surface of the member The chemical structure portion such as a functional group that becomes an anchor for immobilizing various substances that have been immobilized is raised. The combination in which these fine structural parts are respectively formed on the first member and the second member is arbitrary, but in the present invention, in particular, one of the structural parts is the groove, recess, or hole. Is effective and preferable.

  The dimension of the fine structure portion to be aligned is arbitrary, but the dimension in the short side (or minor axis) direction is preferably 1 μm to 5 mm, more preferably 3 μm to 1 mm, most preferably. Is 5 μm to 0.5 mm. By setting it as this range, the effect of this invention is exhibited most. The dimension in the long side (or major axis) direction of the fine structure portion is arbitrary. For example, when the structure is a groove, the dimension in the length direction may be the maximum dimension of the microfluidic device, for example, 10 cm.

  The positioning marks 107, 108, 117, and 118 provided on the first member 11 and the second member 12 may be dedicated marks, or may be structural portions themselves to be aligned. The position of the positioning mark is a portion close to the part where the second member 12 first contacts the first member 11 when the gas is introduced to the back side of the second member 12, so that the positioning accuracy is high. preferable. Further, when positioning is performed at two points, and when the gas is continuously introduced, the contact / non-contact boundary when the contact surface of the first member 11 and the second member 12 expands is linear. For this reason, it is preferable to provide the two positioning marks on a line substantially parallel to the boundary line because positioning accuracy is high. When the positioning is performed by a positioning pin, the positioning mark is the outer periphery of the member.

  Although the 1st member 11 is a member of arbitrary shapes, it is preferable that it is plate shape or film shape. By making the first member 11 into a plate shape or a film shape whose both surfaces are substantially parallel, it becomes easy to optically align through the first member 11. The thickness and shape are arbitrary. Although the material is arbitrary, it is preferable that the material is optically transparent because the position of the second member 12 can be optically detected through the first member 11.

  The second member 12 is a flexible plate-like or film-like member. The degree of flexibility of the second member 12 is determined by the hardness and thickness of the second member 2 as long as the gas does not break in the process of introducing the gas between the second member mounting surfaces of the second holder 2 and causing the gas to expand toward the first member. Is optional. For this purpose, the second member 12 has a radius that does not break when bent into a cylindrical shape of 1 [m] or less, preferably 0.5 [m] or less, more preferably 0.2 [m] or less. is there. The lower limit of the radius may be substantially zero, i.e. bendable with a corner.

The thickness of the second member 12 is arbitrary, and may be, for example, 1 μm to 1 cm, but is preferably 10 μm to 1 mm. Further, in order to introduce gas to the back side and inflate to the first member side while being held by the second member holding mechanism 5, the pressure of the gas introduced from the gas introduction port is 100 kPa or less and the above radius is set. Since it is necessary to have flexibility to deform, the product of tensile modulus and thickness is preferably 3 × 10 ^{2 to} 3 × 10 ⁶ “Pa · m”, more preferably 3 × 10 ^{3 to} 3 × 10. ⁵ Within the range of “Pa · m”.

  The material of the second member is arbitrary, but as the material exhibiting flexibility, crystals such as organic polymer, metal, glass, and quartz are preferable, and organic polymer is more preferable. Of course, the microfluidic device manufactured by the present invention may be manufactured by laminating and bonding other members in addition to the first member 11 and the second member 12.

[Production method]
The manufacturing method of the microfluidic device of the present invention includes:
(1) Using the bonding apparatus of the present invention,
(2) The first member is held by the first holder so that the surface α faces the second holder,
(3) The second member is held by the second holder so that the surface β faces the surface α,
(4) The positional detection mechanism detects a positional relationship between the first member and the second member in a plane parallel to the bonding surface,
(5) By the alignment mechanism, the first member and the second member are aligned in a plane parallel to the bonding surface,
(6) Gas is introduced from the gas introduction port into a part between the second member and the second holder, and the second member is expanded in the direction of the first member. Contacting with the first member;
Thereafter, the second member is bonded to the first member by sequentially contacting the contacted portion to the peripheral portion.

Depending on the variations of the bonding apparatus of the present invention, a suitable manufacturing method can be employed. The method is as described in each section of the bonding apparatus of the present invention.
The first member 11 and the second member 12 bonded together by the manufacturing method of the present invention are bonded together with an adhesive force. However, in the case where the first member 11 and the second member 12 are bonded together more firmly, the curing of the semi-cured resin can be promoted, or the adhesive Are cured and bonded together.
The laminating method of the present invention can be preferably used in a method for producing a microfluidic device. That is, at least one of the first member or the second member is a member constituting a microfluidic device in which a fine structure portion reaching or reaching the surface is a defective portion of the member serving as a flow path. And can be preferably applied to a method of manufacturing a microfluidic device including a step of forming a hollow flow path by bonding them together.

  EXAMPLES Hereinafter, although this invention is demonstrated further more concretely using an Example, this invention is not limited to the range of a following example.

Example 1
In this example, a method for manufacturing a microfluidic device using the bonding apparatus according to the first aspect of the second holder 2 of the present invention will be described.

[Lamination device]
The first holder 1 has the shape shown in FIG. 1 and has an outer dimension of 15 cm × 15 cm × 1.5 cm, the vacuum groove of the vacuum chuck as the first member holding mechanism 3 has a diameter of 8 cm, and the hole 4 has a diameter of 6 cm.
The second holder 2 has the shape of FIG. 2, the outer dimensions are 15 cm × 15 cm × 1.5 cm, the outer diameter of the metal powder sintered porous body of the vacuum chuck 5 which is the second member holding mechanism 5 is 10 cm, the inner diameter Is 6 cm, and the diameter of the porous body of the gas inlet 7 also serving as a vacuum chuck is 5 cm.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the first holder 1 is arranged with the vacuum chuck 3 face down, while the second holder 2 is placed with the vacuum chuck 5 face up, and the alignment mechanism 13 and the vertical movement mechanism are arranged. Two optical microscopes 14 were installed in parallel above the first holder 1 and mounted on the XYZθ moving stage 13 which also serves as the unit. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the vacuum chuck 3 of the first holder 1 was connected to the vacuum 24 and the atmosphere 25 via the switching valve 21. The vacuum chuck 5 of the second holder 2 was connected to the vacuum 24 and the atmosphere 25 via the switching valve 22. The gas inlet 7 was connected to the vacuum 24 and the pressurized gas 26 via the switching valve 23. As the pressurized gas 26, pressurized air adjusted to a pressure of 200 kPa (gauge pressure) was used. As described above, the gas inlet 7 of the present bonding apparatus also has a function of a vacuum chuck.

[Microfluidic device manufacturing method]
[Ultraviolet irradiation method]
The method of ultraviolet irradiation in this example is shown below.
(Irradiation with ultraviolet lamp 1)
Using a UE031-353CHC type UV irradiator manufactured by Eye Graphics Co., Ltd. using a 3 kW metal halide lamp as a light source, ultraviolet rays having an ultraviolet intensity at 365 nm of 40 mW / cm ² were irradiated in a nitrogen atmosphere at room temperature unless otherwise specified.
(Irradiation with ultraviolet lamp 2)
Using a light source unit for multi-light 250W series exposure apparatus manufactured by USHIO INC. Using a 250W high-pressure mercury lamp as a light source, ultraviolet light with an ultraviolet intensity at 365 nm of 50 mW / cm ² is used at room temperature in an air atmosphere unless otherwise specified. Irradiated.

[Preparation of Composition (X)]
70 parts of a trifunctional urethane acrylate oligomer “Unidic V-4263” (Dainippon Ink Chemical Industries, Ltd.) having an average molecular weight of 2000 as an energy ray polymerizable compound, hexanediol diacrylate “New Frontier HDDA” (Daiichi Kogyo Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.) 30 parts), 1 part of 1-hydroxycyclohexyl phenyl ketone “Irgacure 184” (manufactured by Ciba Geigy) as a photopolymerization initiator, and 2,4-diphenyl-4-methyl-1-pentene (Kanto) as a polymerization retarder 0.5 parts of Chemical Co., Ltd.) was mixed to prepare composition (X).

[Production of first member]
The composition (X) is coated on a 10 cm × 10 cm × 1 mm acrylic resin substrate 101 using a spin coater, and the flow passage 121, the introduction passage 105, the portion that forms the outflow passage 106, and two positionings The composition (X) is semi-cured by irradiating the portion other than the marks 107 and 108 with ultraviolet light from the ultraviolet lamp 2 through a photomask for 40 seconds, and the uncured composition (X) in the non-irradiated portion is 50% ethanol. By washing and removing with an aqueous solution, the resin layer 102 in which the groove 104 constituting the flow path 121, the groove 105 serving as the introduction path 105, and the groove 106 serving as the outflow path 106 was formed. The semi-cured resin layer 102 was sticky. This member composed of the substrate 101 and the resin layer 102 was used as the first member 11.

[Production of second member]
A biaxially stretched polypropylene sheet (manufactured by Nimura Chemical Co., Ltd.) having a thickness of 30 μm, one side of which was subjected to corona discharge treatment, was used as a temporary support 111, and the composition (X) was coated thereon using a spin coater, The composition was semi-cured by irradiating ultraviolet rays from the ultraviolet lamp 1 for 40 seconds to form a resin layer 112.
Further, the composition (X) is applied onto the resin layer 112 by using a spin coater, and the flow path 121, the introduction path 115, the outflow path 116, and the portions other than the two positioning marks 117 and 118 are formed. The composition (X) is semi-cured by irradiating with ultraviolet light from the ultraviolet lamp 2 through a photomask for 40 seconds, and the uncured composition (X) in the non-irradiated part is washed and removed with a 50% aqueous ethanol solution. The resin layer 113 in which the groove 114 constituting the flow path 121, the groove 115 serving as the introduction path 115, and the groove 116 serving as the first outflow path 116 was formed. The semi-cured resin layer 113 was sticky. A member composed of the temporary support 111, the resin layer 112, and the resin layer 113 was used as the second member 12.

[Bonding]
As shown in FIG. 5 (a), the first member 11 is fixed to the first holder 1 with the vacuum chuck 3 with the groove forming surface facing downward, and the groove forming surface of the second member 12 is facing upward. Then, the second holder 2 was fixed with the vacuum chuck 7 which also serves as the vacuum chuck 5 and the gas inlet 7, and the XYZθ moving stage 13 was moved in the Z-axis direction to adjust the distance between both members to 0.7 mm. Positioning is performed by adjusting X, Y, and θ of the position adjustment stage while observing the positioning marks 107, 108, 117, and 118 through the hole 4 from above the first holder 1 with the two position detection mechanisms (optical microscope) 14. The positions of the marks 107 and 117 and the positioning marks 108 and 118 were matched.

  When the switching valve 23 is operated to shut off the vacuum 24 and the pressurized air 26 is gradually introduced, the vacuum chuck 7 becomes the gas inlet 7 and the pressurized air is introduced to the back side of the second member 12. As shown in FIG. 2B, the second member 12 swells in a spherical shape, and the central portion contacts the first member 11. Thereafter, when the switching valve 22 connected to the outer vacuum chuck 5 is shut off from the vacuum 24 and connected to the atmosphere 25, the second member 12 gradually moves away from the second holder in the direction from the center toward the peripheral portion. As shown in FIG. 5 (c), the entire second member 12 is adhered to the first member 11, and the first member 11 and the second member 12 are adhered to each other by the adhesive force. Combined.

[Lamination and other processes]
The vacuum of the vacuum chuck 3 of the first holder is released by the switching valve 21 to atmospheric pressure, the bonded body of the first member 11 and the second member 12 is removed, and ultraviolet rays are irradiated for 60 seconds using the ultraviolet irradiation device 1. The energy beam curable composition (X) was completely cured, and the first member 11 and the second member 12 were completely bonded together.
Thereafter, the temporary support 111 is peeled and removed from the second member 12, and a hole is drilled from the substrate 101 side at each end of the introduction path 105, the outflow path 106, the introduction path 115, and the outflow path 116. The inlet 109, the outlet 110, the inlet 119, and the outlet 120 were formed to obtain a microfluidic device as shown in FIG.
In the obtained microfluidic device, the groove 104 of the first member 11 and the groove 114 of the second member 12 completely overlapped to form a capillary channel 121.

[Dimensions of each part]
The obtained microfluidic device has an outer dimension of 100 mm × 100 mm, the thickness of the substrate 101 is 1 mm, the resin layer 102, the resin layer 113, and the resin layer 112 are all 100 μm thick, and the flow path 121 is 200 μm wide and deep. The inlet channel 105, the outlet channel 106, the inlet channel 115, and the outlet channel 116 are all 200 μm wide and 100 μm deep, and the inlet 109, outlet 110, inlet 119, and flow The diameters of the holes at the outlet 120 were all 500 μm. Further, the alignment error between the groove 104 and the groove 114 constituting the flow path 121 was 5 μm or less over the entire range of the flow path 121.

It is (a) top view and (b) A section sectional drawing of the 1st holder of the bonding apparatus of this invention. It is (a) top view and (b) A section sectional view of the 1st mode of the 2nd holder of the pasting device of the present invention. It is the (a) top view and (b) A section sectional view of the 2nd mode and the 3rd mode of the 2nd holder of the pasting device of the present invention. It is a front view schematic diagram including the piping connection schematic diagram of the bonding apparatus of this invention. It is a front view schematic diagram which shows the bonding method of this invention, (a) Before gas introduction, (b) During gas introduction, and (c) Final state. It is the (a) top view schematic diagram and (b) side view schematic diagram of the 1st member of the microfluidic device produced by this invention. It is the (a) top view schematic diagram and (b) side view schematic diagram of the 2nd member of the microfluidic device produced by this invention. It is the (a) top view schematic diagram and (b) side view schematic diagram of the microfluidic device produced by this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 1st holder 2 2nd holder 3 1st member holding mechanism (vacuum chuck)
4 hole 5, 5 'second member holding mechanism (vacuum chuck)
6, 8 Porous material 7 Gas inlet (also vacuum chuck)
11 First member 12 Second member 13 Positioning mechanism (XYZθ moving stage)
14 Position detection mechanism (optical microscope)
21, 22, 23 Switching valve 24 Vacuum 25 Air 26 Pressurized gas (pressurized air)
101 Substrate 102, 112, 113 Resin layer 104, 114 Groove 105, 115 inflow path (groove)
106,116 Outflow channel (groove)
107, 108, 117, 118 Positioning mark 111 Temporary support 109, 119 Inflow port 110, 120 Extraction port 121 Flow path

Claims (7)

A first member having a smooth surface α and a fine structure portion a on the smooth surface α, a smooth surface β and a fine structure portion b on the smooth surface β, and further flexible. A plate-like or film-like second member having properties,
A bonding apparatus for adjusting and bonding the positional relationship between the fine structure portion a and the fine structure portion b using the surface α and the surface β as a bonding surface;
(1) a first holder having a mechanism for holding the first member;
(2) a second holder having a mechanism facing the first holder and holding the second member;
(3) A position detection mechanism for detecting a positional relationship between the first member held by the first holder and the second member held by the second holder in a plane parallel to the bonding surface. (4) an alignment mechanism that adjusts the position of the first member held by the first holder and the second member held by the second holder in a plane parallel to the bonding surface; 5) A gas introduction port for introducing gas between the second member and the second holder in a state where the second member is held by the second holder,
The first holder and the second member are held by the first holder and the second holder, respectively, so that the surface α and the surface β face each other,
When a gas is introduced from the gas inlet to a part between the second member and the second holder and the second member is expanded in the first member direction, a part of the second member is the first member. The bonding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second member is bonded to the first member by contacting with one member and then sequentially contacting the contacted portion to the peripheral portion. A mechanism for holding the second member of the second holder is a substantially annular vacuum chuck;
The bonding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the gas introduction port is provided inside a ring of the annular vacuum chuck. The bonding apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the gas introduction port also serves as a second vacuum chuck provided inside the ring of the annular vacuum chuck. Furthermore, the said 1st holder and / or the said 2nd holder have a perpendicular movement mechanism which can move to the orthogonal | vertical direction with respect to the bonding surface of the said 1st member and the said 2nd member. The bonding apparatus of any one of Claims. Furthermore, the bonding of any one of Claims 1-4 which has a light beam irradiation mechanism which can irradiate a light beam through the said 1st member in the state which contacted the said 1st member and the said 2nd member. apparatus. (1) Using the bonding apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
(2) The first member is held by the first holder so that the surface α faces the second holder,
(3) The second member is held by the second holder so that the surface β faces the surface α,
(4) The positional detection mechanism detects a positional relationship between the first member and the second member in a plane parallel to the bonding surface,
(5) By the alignment mechanism, the first member and the second member are aligned in a plane parallel to the bonding surface,
(6) Gas is introduced from the gas introduction port into a part between the second member and the second holder, and the second member is expanded in the direction of the first member. Contacting with the first member;
Then, the said 2nd member is bonded together to the said 1st member by making it contact sequentially from the said contact part to a peripheral part, The bonding method characterized by the above-mentioned. The first member and the second member are members constituting a microfluidic device, and a fine structure portion formed on at least one surface of the first member and the second member serves as a flow path. The bonding method according to claim 6.

Images