Thermal nanoimprint lithography (NIL) of the cyclic olefin copolymeric thermoplast Topas® is demonstrated. Topas® is highly UV-transparent, has low water absorption, and is chemically resistant to hydrolysis, acids and organic polar solvents which makes it suitable for lab-on-a-chip applications. In particular, Topas® is suitable for micro systems made for optical bio-detection since waveguides for UV-light can be made directly in Topas®. In this article full process sequences for spin coating Topas® onto 4 in. silicon wafers, NIL silicon stamp fabrication with micro and nanometer sized features, and the NIL process parameters are presented. The rheological properties of Topas® are measured and the zero shear rate viscosity is found to be 2.16×104 Pa s at 170 °C and 3.6×103 Pa s at 200 °C while the dominant relaxation time is found to be 4.4 s and 0.9 s, respectively. The etch resistance of Topas® to two different reactive ion etch processes, an oxygen plasma, and an anisotropic silicon etch, is found to be 12.6 nm/s and 0.7 nm/s, respectively. The etch rates are compared to the similar etch rates of 950 k PMMA, cross-linked SU-8, and standard AZ5214E photoresist. Finally, UV-lithography (UVL) followed by metal deposition and lift-off on top of a Topas® film patterned by NIL is demonstrated. This exploits the chemical resistance of Topas® to sodium hydroxide and acetone. The demonstrated UVL and lift-off on top of an imprinted Topas® film opens new possibilities for post-NIL processing.

Topas w , the cyclic olefin copolymer, from Topas Advanced Polymers GmbH has a number of advantages over polymers such as poly(methylmethacrylate), polydimethylsiloxane, and polycarbonate traditionally used in fluid microsystem manufacturing, such as low water absorption, high chemical resistance, good machinability, and good optical properties. A number of different processes for rapid and low-cost prototyping of all-Topas microfluidic systems, made with desktop machinery, are presented. Among the processes are micromilling of fluidic structures with a width down to 25 mm and sealing of fluidic channels by thermal bonding or laser bonding, using a thin, spin-coated layer of carbon particles between the Topas substrate and the lid to absorb the laser light.

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A novel detection scheme for detection of liquid levels and bubbles in microfluidic systems, using the principle of total internal reflection (TIR) is presented. A laser beam impinges on the side walls of a channel which are inclined at 45°. In an unfilled channel of such a "V-groove", TIR deflects the beam by 900 into a simple light detector. Upon the presence of liquid, the refractive index in the channel changes, thus eliminating deflection by TIR. The detection principle is robust, requiring no calibration, and tolerating alignment errors of the laser larger than the width and depth of the microfluidic channels. The machining of the V-groves can seamlessly be integrated into common polymer microfabrication schemes such as injection molding.

In this paper we present an experimental study of the dynamics of underwater sand ripples when a regular pattern of ripples is subjected to a skewed oscillatory flow, i.e., one not perpendicular to the direction of the ripple crests. Striking patterns with new, superposed ripples on top of the original ones occur very quickly with a characteristic angle, which is, in general, not perpendicular to the flow. A slower, more complex transition then follows, leading to the final state where the ripples are again perpendicular to the flow. We investigate the variation of the superposed pattern as a function of the direction, amplitude, and frequency of the drive, and as a function of the viscosity (by changing the temperature). We quantify the dynamics of the entire transition process and finally study the grain motion around idealized (solid) skewed ripples. This leads to a characteristic mean path of a single particle. The path has a shape close to a parallelogram, with no apparent connection to the pattern of real, superposed ripples. On the other hand, a thin layer of sand sprinkled on the solid ripples leads to qualitatively similar patterns.