A multilevel polymer process for liquid direct encapsulation for opto-fluidic application

This paper describes a polymer manufacturing technique for the realization of sealed liquid tanks with a high filling ratio. It is based on a lithographic process combined with lamination and can be performed on any type of substrate: Si, glass or polymer films. We demonstrated the encapsulation of liquid in multilevel tanks on large surface area (>;118 cm²) without any damage of the stored liquid and good flatness. This micro-fabrication technology proposes a significant breakthrough for opto-fluidic applications. We propose a one step process for the filling and sealing of tanks which are performed simultaneously. Tanks can be integrated at any level in the micro-fluidic system with a perfect filling rate and an excellent tightness.