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Facile fabrication of microfluidic systems using electron beam lithography
Prashant Mali1, Aniruddh Sarkar, Rakesh Lal
1Department of Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai 400076, India.
Lab on a Chip
|February 2, 2006
Summary
Two new methods use electron beam lithography to rapidly fabricate polymeric microfluidic systems. These techniques enable high-resolution, scalable production of complex microfluidic devices for integrated systems.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Microfluidics
- Nanotechnology
Background:
- Microfluidic systems are crucial for lab-on-a-chip devices.
- Current fabrication methods can be slow, complex, and lack scalability.
- Integration of microfluidics with electronics requires advanced fabrication techniques.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop fast, generic, and scalable methods for fabricating polymeric microfluidic systems.
- To demonstrate the fabrication of diverse microfluidic structures using electron beam lithography.
- To enable post-CMOS fabrication of integrated micro/nanofluidic systems.
Main Methods:
- Utilized electron beam lithography with spatially varying energy to control resist depth.
- Employed electron beam lithography with spatially varying dose for differential exposure of bi-layer resists.
- Fabricated microchannels, synthetic gels, and chaotic mixers without additional bonding or etching steps.
Main Results:
- Successfully fabricated microfluidic systems with high resolution and speed.
- Demonstrated fabrication of various microchannel geometries and complex structures.
- Achieved fabrication without sacrificial layers or complex bonding procedures.
Conclusions:
- The presented methods offer a simple, scalable, and rapid approach to microfluidic fabrication.
- These techniques are compatible with post-CMOS processes, facilitating integrated system development.
- The methods are highly promising for rapid prototyping of advanced micro/nanofluidic devices.