Polycarbonate Masters for Soft Lithography

Fabrication of microfluidic devices by soft lithography is by far the most popular approach due to simplicity and low cost. The approach relies on casting of elastomers, such as polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), on masters fabricated from photoresists on silicon substrates. These masters, however, can be expensive, complex to fabricate, and fragile. Here an optimized replica molding approach to preserve the original masters by heat molding of polycarbonate (PC) sheets on PDMS molds is described. The process is faster and simpler than previously reported methods and does not result in loss of resolution or aspect ratio for the features. The generated PC masters were used to successfully replicate a wide range of microfluidic devices, including rectangular channels with aspect ratios from 0.025 to 7.3, large area spiral channels, and micropost arrays with 5 mm spacing. Moreover, the fabrication of rounded features in PC, like semi-spherical micro wells and round micro channels, was possible. Quantitative analysis of the replicated features showed variability of <2%. The approach is low cost, does not require cleanroom setting or hazardous chemicals, and is rapid and simple. The fabricated masters are rigid and survive numerous replication cycles. Moreover, damaged or missing masters can be easily replaced by reproduction from previously cast PDMS replicas. All these advantages make the PC masters highly desirable for long-term preservation of soft lithography masters for microfluidic devices.