Rapid fabrication of microdevices by controlling the PDMS curing conditions during replication of a laser-prototyped mould

Abstract

This paper presents a method that enables fast and low-cost fabrication of microchannels with oval cross-section. The procedure is based on formation of a concave meniscus at the interface between an initially cured PDMS and a polymeric mould fabricated using excimer laser. In this technique, the mould is not filled with uncured PDMS. The replica is formed by expanding gas trapped within the structures of the mould during thermal curing. A second shaping factor is connected with surface phenomena at the interface between the mould, gas and partially cured PDMS. The final shape of the meniscus is determined when the PDMS reaches the high cure extent. The microchannels with oval cross-section are obtained by using a completely cured PDMS replica as a mould in an analogical second fabrication step. As a result an all-in-PDMS chip can be produced. The cross-section of channels can be controlled by changing the curing conditions. We investigated the influence of the initial PDMS curing time and pressure during final curing on the geometry of the created microchannels. The fabricated microstructures are characterized by constant depth and high quality of the surface.