Integrated fluidic system for gas chromatography

A gas chromatograph, comprising:

• a pump configured to receive a carrier gas;
• a separation column configured to receive the carrier gas from the pump and operable to separate analyte molecules from the carrier gas;
• a preconcentrator interposed and fluidly coupled between the pump and the separation column;
• and
• a detector configured to receive the carrier gas from the separation column, wherein at least three of the pump, the separation column, the preconcentrator and the detector are fabricated by microfabricating using only three different masks.

A gas chromatograph, comprising:

• a pump configured to receive a carrier gas;
• a separation column configured to receive the carrier gas from a pump and operable to separate analyte molecules from the carrier gas;
• a preconcentrator interposed and fluidly coupled between the pump and the separation column;
• and
• a detector configured to receive the carrier gas from the separation column, wherein the microfabricated pump is arranged to operate in a first direction to draw the carrier gas into the preconcentrator and in a second direction to draw gas out of the preconcentrator, and at least three of the pump, the separation column, the preconcentrator and the detector is fabricated by a microfabricating method.

A method for microfabricating a fluidic system for a gas chromatograph, comprising:

• microfabricating, using a first mask, a portion of a fluidic system of a gas chromatograph on a substrate, where the portion of the fluidic system includes a pump and at least one of a separation column, a preconcentrator, and a detector;
• microfabricating, using a second mask, the portion of the fluidic system of the gas chromatograph;
• and
• microfabricating, using a third mask, the portion of the fluidic system of the gas chromatograph, wherein the first mask, the second mask and the third mask are different from each other and the microfabricating of the fluidic system of the gas chromatograph is completed using only the first, second and third masks.

A method for microfabricating a fluidic system for a gas chromatograph, comprising:

• microfabricating, using a first mask, a portion of a fluidic system of a gas chromatograph on a substrate, where the portion of the fluidic system includes at least two of a pump, a separation column, a preconcentrator, and a detector;
• microfabricating, using a second mask, the portion of the fluidic system of the gas chromatograph;
• and
• microfabricating, using a third mask, the portion of the fluidic system of the gas chromatograph, wherein the first mask, the second mask and the third mask are different from each other and the microfabricating of the fluidic system of the gas chromatograph is completed using only the first, second and third masks.