chip lid molding engr 1182.03 pre lab. micro-fabrication how can we produce devices on a very small...
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Chip Lid MoldingENGR 1182.03Pre Lab
Micro-fabricationHow can we produce devices on a very small scale ?
e.g. Device dimensions 10 nm – 400 µm
Answer: Two ways Top – Down
conventional manufacturing approaches at a reduced scale, such as CNC milling and photolithography
Bottom – Upcontrolling molecular-level interactions to create substances with the required properties
Evolution of Top-Down Micro-fabrication Originally developed by microelectronics silicon
industry
Refined for nanoscale fabrication
Extended to polymer micro/nanofabrication Polymers are flexible and bio-compatible
Photolithography
Photolithography is a common micro-fabrication technique used to transfer an image from a photomask to the surface of a substrate by using ultraviolet light.
The components needed for Photolithography are light source, photomask, lens and wafer.
LOC fabricationFor this LOC project chips will be
produced in a three step process. First, each team creates a CAD file of their LOC
design. Second, acrylic wafers are milled with a CNC
machine from the CAD design. Third, we will mold plain PDMS lids (no pattern) to
enclose the channels and wells of the acrylic wafer.
MoldingLOC wells and channels will be sealed with a
flexible lid.
In order to mold our LOC lids, we mix PDMS (silicone rubber) resin with its hardener(catalyst) in a disposable cup by stirring rigorously.
This mixing creates a lot of bubbles and we need to get rid of those bubbles since we do not want any optical defects in our molds.
Degassing LiquidsWe get rid of these bubbles using vacuum
Lower pressure expands bubbles by increasing the volume of the gas
Lower pressure reduces the solubility of air in the liquid thus causing bubbles to surface.
Cycling vacuum and atmospheric pressure creates a driving force to remove bubbles from the liquid phase and have a defect free mold.
Learning Objectives of LabExpose students to a lab-on-a-chip
fabrication technique utilizing polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) to produce the lids for the acrylic chip bases.
Introduce student to the issues concerning material safety data sheets (MSDS) and safe or appropriate handling of materials based on the information provided in an MSDS.