iGC1: An Integrated Fluidic System for Gas Chromatography Including Knudsen Pump, Preconcentrator, Column, and Detector Microfabricated by a Three-Mask Process

This paper reports an integrated microscale gas chromatography (μGC) system, the iGC1, which contains four components: 1) a Knudsen pump (KP); 2) a preconcentrator-focuser (PCF); 3) a separation column; and 4) a gas detector. All four components are fabricated from glass wafers using a three-mask process with minimal postprocessing. In a stackable architecture, the components are finally assembled into a 4-cm³ system. The stacked iGC1 system demonstrates the successful separation and detection of an alkane mixture in the range of C₅-C₈ in less than 60 s.