Sub-nanoliter nuclear magnetic resonance coils fabricated with multilayer soft lithography

We describe the fabrication and characterization of sub-nanoliter volume nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) transceiver coils that are easily amenable to integration within PDMS-based microfluidics. NMR coils were constructed by the injection of liquid metal into solenoidal cavities created around a microchannel using consecutive replica molding and bonding of PDMS layers. This construction technique permits the integration of NMR coils with solenoidal, toroidal or other three-dimensional geometries within highly integrated microfluidic systems and are one step toward NMR-based chemical screening and analysis on chip. The current proof-of-principle implementation displays limited sensitivity and resolution due to the conductivity and magnetic susceptibilities of the construction materials. However, NMR measurements and finite-element simulations made with the current device geometry indicate that optimization of these materials will allow for the collection of spectra from sub-millimolar concentration samples in less than 1 nL of solution.