A low cost solution for the fabrication of dielectrophoretic microfluidic devices and embedded electrodes

The versatility of a simple method for producing microfluidic devices with embedded electrodes is demonstrated through the fabrication and operation of two dielectrophoretic devices; one employing interdigitated electrode structures on glass and the other employing contactless electrode reservoirs. Device manufacture is based on the precipitation of silver and subsequent photolithography of thin film resists conducted outside of a cleanroom environment. In current experiments, minimum channel widths of 50 microns and electrode widths of 25 microns are achieved when the distance between features is 40 microns or greater. These results illustrate this technique's potential to produce microfluidic devices with embedded electrodes for lab on chip applications while significantly reducing fabrication expense.