Resolution improvement of 3D stereo-lithography through the direct laser trajectory programming: Application to...

Area of Science:

• Microfluidics
• Additive Manufacturing
• 3D Printing

Background:

• Current microfluidic device fabrication relies heavily on soft lithography, which has limitations in creating 3D structures.
• Conventional additive manufacturing lacks the resolution for microfluidic applications, while high-resolution two-photon laser systems are slow and limited in build size.

Purpose of the Study:

• To enhance the resolution of conventional stereolithography machines for microfluidic device fabrication.
• To bridge the gap between existing microfluidic manufacturing technologies by improving resolution and speed.

Main Methods:

• Direct programming of the laser path in conventional stereolithographic machines.
• Achieving feature sizes between 10 and 100 micrometers.
• Fabrication of an open microfluidic device with a reversible seal and periodical patterns.

Main Results:

• Decreased the smallest printable feature size by at least 2x.
• Increased the reproducibility of printed features by 5x.
• Successfully fabricated a deterministic lateral displacement particle sorting device.

Conclusions:

• The developed method allows direct printing of microfluidic features with resolutions limited by the laser beam size.
• The approach enables the creation of microfluidic devices with improved resolution and reproducibility compared to conventional methods.
• Validated by achieving >95% specificity in sorting polystyrene beads, comparable to microlithography-based devices.