Low-Temperature Co-Fired Ceramics System for Light Absorbance Measurement

The article describes technology of the low‐temperature co‐fired ceramics (LTCC) structure that enables light absorbance measurements of liquid sample. The manufactured ceramic structure contains buried microfluidic channels. The structure consists of two co‐fired glass windows that separate the light source and detector from the test solution. A construction of an electronic measurement system is described as well. The signal from three light‐emitting diodes (LED)s — red, green, and blue — can be used in the absorbance measurements. The light intensity is measured by the TCS 3414CS (TAOS, Plano, TX) color detector. Optical properties of the fabricated microfluidic LTCC system is investigated with several concentrations of potassium permanganate (KMnO4) in water solution. The system can be applied in microbiology for constant monitoring of bacterial growth.