This paper presents a method for etching millimetre-deep trenches in commercial grade PMMA using deep-UV
at 254 nm. The method is based on consecutive cycles of irradiation and development of the exposed areas, respectively.
The exposure segment is performed using an inexpensive, in-house built irradiation box while the development part is
accomplished using an isopropyl alcohol (IPA):H2O developer. The method was tested and characterized by etching
various dimension square test structures in commercial grade, mirrored acrylic. The undercut of the sidewalls due to the
uncollimated nature of the irradiation light was dramatically alleviated by using a honeycomb metallic grid in between
the irradiation source and the acrylic substrate and by rotating the latter using a direct current (DC) motor-driven stage.
By using an extremely affordable set-up and non-toxic, environmentally friendly materials and substances, this process
represents an excellent alternative to microfabricating microfluidic devices in particular and high aspect ratio structures
in general using PMMA as substrate.
An inexpensive and rapid micro-fabrication process for producing PMMA microfluidic components has been presented.
Our proposed technique takes advantages of commercially available economical technologies such as the silk screen
printing and UV patterning of PMMA substrates to produce the microfluidic components. As a demonstration of our
proposed technique, we had utilized a homemade deep-UV source, λ=254nm, a silk screen mask made using a local
screen-printing shop and Isopropyl alcohol - water mixture (IPA-water) as developer to quickly define the microfluidic
patterns. The prototyped devices were successfully bonded, sealed, and the device functionality tested and demonstrated.
The screen printing based technique can produce microfluidic channels as small as 50 micrometers quite easily, making
this technique the most cost-effective, fairly high precision and at the same time an ultra economical plastic microfluidic
components fabrication process reported to date.
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