Patterning of thick polymeric substrates for the fabrication of microfluidic devices

Abstract

Plasma etching is investigated as an alternative technology to soft lithography for the fabrication of microfluidic devices. First, soft lithography was employed for the fabrication of microchannels in poly-dimethylsiloxane (PDMS), for use in a biosensor for protein and DNA detection. Then, a plasma etching process was investigated and optimized with respect to etch rate maximization for PDMS and PMMA substrates. Preliminary results for deep pattern transfer to these polymeric substrates with an Al etch mask are shown.