Microfluidic structure fabrication using soft lithography and laser micromachine

Abstract

Microfluidic structures are devices that are able to control fluids in the scale of micrometer and have been widely adapted in the application of lab-on-chip. There are many methods of producing microfluidic structures, with soft lithography and laser micromachine are the commonly reported techniques. This paper reports on the experiments conducted to investigate the formation of microfluidic structure by means of soft lithography method and laser micromachine technique. From soft lithography process, UV exposure time of 60 seconds and exposure energy of 160mJ/cm2 are considered as optimal exposure condition in producing the microfluidic structure. By using laser micromachine technique, the best laser energy intensity used to produce the structure is 14 mJ. We found that both techniques have its pros and cons, with laser micromachine technique involve less fabrication time and chemicals, while soft lithography method produced smoother microfluidic surface structure.