title: Development of motorized plasma lithography for cell patterning.
abstract: The micropatterning of cells, which restricts the adhesive regions on the substrate and thus controls cell geometry, is used to study mechanobiology-related cell functions. Plasma lithography is a means of providing such patterns and uses a spatially-selective plasma treatment. Conventional plasma lithography employs a positionally-fixed mask with which the geometry of the patterns is determined and thus is not suited for producing on-demand geometries of patterns. To overcome this, we have manufactured a new device with a motorized mask mounted in a vacuum chamber of a plasma generator, which we designate motorized plasma lithography. Our pilot tests indicate that various pattern geometries can be obtained with the control of a shielding mask during plasma treatment. Our approach can thus omit the laborious process of preparing photolithographically microfabricated masks required for the conventional plasma lithography.
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioengineering and Robotics, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan, deguchi@nitech.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Shinji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Deguchi
authors.forename: Yohei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nagasawa
authors.forename: Akira C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.forename: Tsubasa S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Matsui
authors.forename: Sho
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yokoyama
authors.forename: Masaaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sato
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001703:Biophysics / Q000379:methods*; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003584:Cytological Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D010949:Plasma / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D013499:Surface Properties