Targeted machining during MEMS device fabrication using PDMS microfluidic cassettes

As designers of MEMS and bioMEMS strive for increased device performance and are exploring more exotic material systems, which may not be compatible with conventional photolithographic processes; techniques that can circumvent the limitations of conventional fabrication processes can offer new pathways for the creation of high impact devices. Microfluidic processes can provide precision control of fluids and materials that can be leveraged to perform microfabrication tasks in place of photolithography and bulk processing. This work details techniques we have developed to assist in the fabrication of MEMS devices using a microfluidic patterning based approach. These techniques utilise the properties of fluids at the microscale as well as the deformability of microfluidic devices to generate dynamic wet processing environments to produce features not achievable using traditional methods such as bath etching.