A high-performance microfabricated gas chromatography column

This paper presents the theory, fabrication, and experimental results for a microfabricated gas chromatography column capable of performing multi-component separations using air as a carrier gas and vacuum at the outlet. These features are necessary to the realization of a wristwatch-size gas chromatograph (μGC), but pose significant challenges in the design of a high-performance column. Columns 0.9 m and 3.0 m long were fabricated using a deep reactive ion etch (DRIE) and were sealed with a glass cap. The 3.0 m-long non-polar column occupies 3.2 cm×3.2 cm, has separated 16 gaseous components in 75 seconds, and achieves approximately 4900 plates (about 45% of theoretical predictions). The fabrication process has been extended to minimize the mass of the columns and facilitate low-power operation.