Fabrication of large all-PDMS micropatterned waveguides for lab on chip integration using a rapid prototyping technique

Pérez-Calixto, Daniel; Zamarrón-Hernández, Diego; Cruz-Ramírez, Aarón; Hautefeuille, Mathieu; Hernández‐Cordero, Juan; Velázquez, Víctor; Grether, M.

doi:10.1364/ome.7.001343

Cited by 17 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Although it offers excellent control of the macro- and micro-patterns in a relatively simple manner, for the particular case of large microfluidic chips we preferred the CNC micromilling solution. Interestingly, for other types of applications such as the microfabrication of optical waveguides where the combination of macro- and microstructures are required [27], both cured refractive indices are 1.51.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Micro–Macro: Selective Integration of Microfeatures Inside Low-Cost Macromolds for PDMS Microfluidics Fabrication

et al. 2019

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Microfluidics has become a very promising technology in recent years, due to its great potential to revolutionize life-science solutions. Generic microfabrication processes have been progressively made available to academic laboratories thanks to cost-effective soft-lithography techniques and enabled important progress in applications like lab-on-chip platforms using rapid- prototyping. However, micron-sized features are required in most designs, especially in biomimetic cell culture platforms, imposing elevated costs of production associated with lithography and limiting the use of such devices. In most cases, however, only a small portion of the structures require high-resolution and cost may be decreased. In this work, we present a replica-molding method separating the fabrication steps of low (macro) and high (micro) resolutions and then merging the two scales in a single chip. The method consists of fabricating the largest possible area in inexpensive macromolds using simple techniques such as plastics micromilling, laser microfabrication, or even by shrinking printed polystyrene sheets. The microfeatures were made on a separated mold or onto existing macromolds using photolithography or 2-photon lithography. By limiting the expensive area to the essential, the time and cost of fabrication can be reduced. Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microfluidic chips were successfully fabricated from the constructed molds and tested to validate our micro–macro method.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Micro–Macro: Selective Integration of Microfeatures Inside Low-Cost Macromolds for PDMS Microfluidics Fabrication

et al. 2019

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“…However, all the results should be repeatable by a regular laser cutter available on the market. It has been demonstrated that even a modified CD optical pickup head system can ablate micro-scale channels on acrylic boards 20 . In addition to the unique capabilities of the acrylic-tape devices, the decreasing cost and increasing accessibility of laser cutters in academia and industry make the platform even more appealing.…”

Section: Fabrication Methods and Materialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reconfigurable Acrylic-tape Hybrid Microfluidics

Ren

Ray

Liu

2019

Sci Rep

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There is a great interest in low-cost, versatile microfluidic platforms of which the fabrication processes are rapid, straightforward, and translatable to industrial mass productions. In addition, it is beneficial for microfluidic devices to be reconfigurable in the field, so that multiple functions can be realized by a minimum number of devices. Here, we present a versatile acrylic-tape platform which allows highly accessible rapid prototyping of microfluidic devices, as well as device reconfiguration to realize different functions. The clean-room-free fabrication and sealing process only requires a laser cutter, acrylic, and tapes and can be done by an untrained person in the field. We experimentally characterized the relationship between the capillary flow speed and the channel height, the latter of which can be well controlled by the fabrication process. Reconfiguration of microfluidic functions was demonstrated on a single acrylic-tape device, thanks to the reversible sealing enabled by functional tapes. Different pumping mechanisms, including on-chip pumps for better portability and syringe pumps for precise fluid control, have been employed for the demonstration of two-phase flow and droplet generation, respectively. The low-cost and versatile acrylic-tape microfluidic devices are promising tools for applications in a wide range of fields, especially for point-of-care biomedical and clinical applications.

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“…The most well‐known materials are thermoset elastomers, such as polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and transparent hydrogels, with tissue‐matching, low mechanical moduli (10 kPa–1 MPa), and relatively low optical losses (0.2–2 dB cm −1 ). [ 15 ] Thermoset elastomeric optical waveguides can be fabricated using various methods including molding, [ 7,11,16 ] semi‐cured drawing, [ 17,18 ] laser writing, [ 19 ] lithography, [ 20,21 ] or 3D printing. [ 22 ] Moreover, the ease of fabrication allows for more complex devices, such as stretchable optical waveguides integrated with vertical‐cavity surface‐emitting lasers, photodiodes [ 23 ] and microfluidic channels.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Single‐Mode, 700%‐Stretchable, Elastic Optical Fibers Made of Thermoplastic Elastomers

Shabahang

Clouser

Shabahang

et al. 2021

Advanced Optical Materials

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Optical fibers made of thermoset elastomeric materials can offer extremely high stretchability not possible with conventional glass and plastic optical fibers. However, such elastomer fibers have so far been made with large mm‐scale diameters, which limit their potential utilities. Here, fabrication of small‐diameter (< 200 µm), core‐clad optical fibers using a thermal drawing of transparent thermoplastic elastomers is demonstrated. The single‐mode optical fibers fabricated by this method are highly elastic and durable against strain up to 700%. Furthermore, a composite thermoplastic‐thermoset elastic optical fiber is also presented, in which the advantageous properties of both families of elastomers are combined. These optical fibers may be useful for short‐distance, mechanically flexible, optical interconnections in biomedical, wearable, or implantable photonic devices.

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Fabrication of large all-PDMS micropatterned waveguides for lab on chip integration using a rapid prototyping technique

Cited by 17 publications

References 28 publications

Micro–Macro: Selective Integration of Microfeatures Inside Low-Cost Macromolds for PDMS Microfluidics Fabrication

Micro–Macro: Selective Integration of Microfeatures Inside Low-Cost Macromolds for PDMS Microfluidics Fabrication

Reconfigurable Acrylic-tape Hybrid Microfluidics

Single‐Mode, 700%‐Stretchable, Elastic Optical Fibers Made of Thermoplastic Elastomers

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