Cost effective maskless lithography: Direct UV laser writing of microstructures for microfluidics applications

Abstract

Maskless lithography has improved manufacturing process of microstructures with time, cost, and flexibility of producing complex designs. It has dramatically overcome the shortcomings of traditional or conventional lithography technique that utilizes masks for patterning. However, commercially available maskless lithography systems are highly expensive for small institutions that uses the system for small production or research purposes. Among the cost-effective methods, direct laser writing and digital micro-mirror device based aerial imaging have been noticed widely in literature. In this study, as a part of manufacturing microfluidic devices, maskless lithography system was developed and built in the lab with cost-effective measures. Some of the results obtained manufacturing complex shapes are provided in this study.