Scanning-Laser-Based Microstereolithography of Microfluidic Chips with Micron Resolution

Abstract

The constant improvement of stereolithography (SL) in terms of achievable resolution and printing time has sparked high expectations that SL will enable the rapid prototyping of truly microfluidic chips with features below 100 µm. However, most commercial high-resolution stereolithography devices are based on Digital Light Processing (DLP) and thus sacrifice lateral printing size for resolution. Consequently, even 10 years after the advent of microstereolithography there is no commercialized 3D printing system that can effectively fulfill all the demands to replace soft lithography for microfluidic prototyping. In this work, for the first time, This study demonstrates that a commercial laser-based stereolithography device is capable of manufacturing microfluidic chips with embedded channels smaller than 100 µm with a footprint of 7.24 × 0.3 cm². A chip fabricated in poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) that can readily be used for fluid mixing, is presented in this study. This research shows that the accessibility of high-resolution chips with footprints of several cm², using laser-based stereolithography, enables the manufacturing of truly microfluidic systems with high impact on prototyping and manufacturing.