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Materials Science Technologies for
Applications in Life Sciences
Microfabrication Techniques
“Soft” Fabrication Techniques
Instructor: Vivek Verma
Introduction
• Soft fabrication techniques are used in bioMEMS
devices that incorporate
– Synthetic polymers
– Natural polymers
• DNA
• Proteins
– Self assembled monolayers (SAMs)
– Biological materials
• Applications
– Lab on a chip
– Microfluidic and microarray devices
Instructor: Vivek Verma
Introduction
• Microfluidic devices can use one or more of the
following materials
– Silicon
– Glass
– Polymers
– Biological materials
• Microfluidic devices use
– Soft and hard fabrication processes
• Include plasma, etching, surface treatment, etc.
Instructor: Vivek Verma
Application of Polymers in BioMEMS
• Improved and easier machinability
– Laser ablation, imprinting, embossing, moulding,
reactive ion etching and interaction with radiation
• Optical transparency for certain detection
strategies
– Fluorescence, UV‐Vis and Raman detection
– Absorption should not occur at the detection
frequency of interest
• Biocompatibility
– Sample, solvents and other reagents in a LOC device
must not adversely interact with the material
through which they pass
Instructor: Vivek Verma
Application of Polymers in BioMEMS
• Thermal and electrical properties
– Electrophoretic materials must hold up to electrical
fields and be able to dissipate heat
– Substrate and cover plate must be able to withstand
bonding (for final phases of assembly)
• Ability to enclose high aspect ratio
microstructures
• Ability for surface modification and
functionalization
Instructor: Vivek Verma
Biomaterials
• Used in medical diagnostics and therapeutics
• Include
– Natural, synthetic and biological materials
Instructor: Vivek Verma
Ionic Covalent and Metallic Bonds
• Alloys
– Metals combined to form new materials with
different properties then original components
• Compounds
– Chemically combined elements
• Mixtures
– Physical blends of two or more materials
• Ionic Bonding
• Covalent Bonding
• Metallic Bonding
Instructor: Vivek Verma
Soft Lithography
• Methods use a patterned elastomer as a stamp,
mold or mask to generate microstructure
• Poly(dimethyl siloxane) (PDMS) is used widely in
soft lithography
• PDMS stamp can be made by casting PDMS over
silicon wafer master mold
– Photolithgraphy is used to define patterns on silicon
wafer
– PDMS is applied over the wafer, cured and peeled
away to be used as a stamp
Instructor: Vivek Verma
Fabrication of PDMS Stamps
Instructor: Vivek Verma
Soft Lithography
• Microcontact printing (μCP)
• Microtransfer molding (μTM)
• Molding in capillaries (MIMIC)
Instructor: Vivek Verma
Microcontact Printing (μCP)
• PDMS stamp is coated with a material (ink)
• Transfer of materials including biologically active
molecules can be applied to a surface in well
defined manner
Instructor: Vivek Verma
Microcontact Printing (μCP)
Instructor: Vivek Verma
Microtransfer Molding (μTM)
• PDMS mold is filled with a polymer precursor
– Material is in the relief areas rather than the raised
areas as in μCP
• Stamp is pressed against the substrate and cured
Instructor: Vivek Verma
Microtransfer Molding (μTM)
• Single layer
Instructor: Vivek Verma
Microtransfer Molding (μTM)
• Multiple layer
Instructor: Vivek Verma
Micromolding in Capillaries (MIMIC)
• The stamp is first applied to the substrate
• Prepolymer liquid is applied at the end of the
channels
• Electro‐osmotic forces to carry it into the
channel
• Curing
Instructor: Vivek Verma
Micromolding in Capillaries (MIMIC)
Instructor: Vivek Verma
Hot Embossing
• Thermoplastic material is inserted into a
molding machine and formed under pressure
• Requires heat and compression
Instructor: Vivek Verma
Hot Embossing
Instructor: Vivek Verma
Hot Embossing
• Advantages
– Low polymer flow
– High molecular weight polymers can be used (better
mechanical and thermal property)
– Ability for continuous cycle
– Good for small structures
• Disadvantages
– Difficult to form high aspect ratio structures
– Dimensional control
– High residual stresses
– Difficult to make large parts or parts with multiple
feature depths
• Limited to planer features (to release from mold)
Instructor: Vivek Verma