Heterogeneous integration of silicon fluidic components in polymer chips

We present a new heterogeneous integration technology which enables direct incorporation of silicon-based microfluidic components in an injection-moulded polymer lab-on-a-chip (LOC). The integration is performed as part of the injection moulding process, forming direct fluidic connections between the polymer and the silicon chip while embedding the silicon chip in the polymer matrix. The resulting fluidic interface between the silicon and the polymer chip is therefore highly compact and free of dead-volume. The method requires no secondary integration process such as welding or gluing. The method opens for mass fabrication of highly functional, heterogeneous LOC systems.