Light-sheet based lithography technique for patterning an array of microfluidic channels

Note: Multi-sheet light enables optical interference lithography

We propose and demonstrate a modified spatial filter-based single-shot lithography technique for fabricating an array of microfluidic channels. This is achieved by illuminating the photopolymer specimen with a multiple light sheet (MLS) pattern. Modified spatial filtering is employed in a cylindrical lens system to generate the MLS pattern. The transmission window [the difference (α - β) angle] of the spatial filter determines the characteristics of the pattern and the fabricated microfluidic channel array. After exposing to a negative photoresist (DPHPA monomer with rose bengal as the photoinitiator), this gives rise to an array of micro-fluidic channels (post development process). We studied the effect of micro-channel geometry (channel width, inter-channel separation, and aspect ratio) for varying exposure times that show near-linear dependence. The results show that the fabricated array has 7 prominent channels with an individual channel width and inter-channel separation of approximately 5 μm and 12 μm, respectively. The proposed technique enables selective plane patterning and reduces the overall cost for large-scale production.