title: Plastic masters-rigid templates for soft lithography.
abstract: We demonstrate a simple process for the fabrication of rigid plastic master molds for soft lithography directly from (poly)dimethysiloxane devices. Plastics masters (PMs) provide a cost-effective alternative to silicon-based masters and can be easily replicated without the need for cleanroom facilities. We have successfully demonstrated the use of plastics micromolding to generate both single and dual-layer plastic structures, and have characterized the fidelity of the molding process. Using the PM fabrication technique, world-to-chip connections can be integrated directly into the master enabling devices with robust, well-aligned fluidic ports directly after molding. PMs provide an easy technique for the fabrication of microfluidic devices and a simple route for the scaling-up of fabrication of robust masters for soft lithography.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Salil P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Desai
authors.forename: Dennis M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Freeman
authors.forename: Joel
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Voldman
mesh_terms: D004129:Dimethylpolysiloxanes / Q000737:chemistry; D004867:Equipment Design; D046210:Microfluidic Analytical Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation*; D055616:Microtechnology / Q000379:methods*; D010969:Plastics / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D004129:Dimethylpolysiloxanes; D010969:Plastics; C013830:baysilon