Rapid Prototyping of X‐Ray Microdiffraction Compatible Continuous Microflow Foils

Abstract

Microfluidics meets microdiffraction: A straightforward and inexpensive method of fabricating long-lifetime, X-ray-microdiffraction compatible, ultrathin microfluidic devices with an overwhelming versatility with respect to channel design elements is presented (see image). To illustrate the analytic power and geometric flexibility of these microflow foils, X-ray microdiffraction measurements on shear-induced alignment effects in the smectic liquid crystal n-octyl-4-cyanobiphenyl are shown.