Light-sheet based lithography technique for patterning an array of microfluidic channels

We propose a Light-sheet laser interference lithography technique for fabricating periodic microfluidic channels. This technique uses multiple light-sheet illumination pattern that is generated using a spatial filter at the back-aperture of the cylindrical lens. Specially designed spatial filter is used that give rise to a periodic pattern at the focal plane which is essentially a 1D Fourier transform of the spatial filter transfer function. One-dimensional focusing property of the cylindrical lens result in the generation of line shaped channel geometry. To design microfluidic channels, the illumination pattern is exposed to the glass substrate coated with a photopolymer sensitized to 532 nm and subsequently developed using standard chemical protocols. Experimentally, the 1D periodic channel structure has an approximate width and periodicity of approximately 11.25 microns. Light-sheets based lithography technique offer a fast and single-shot process to generate microfluidic channels.