Soft-imprint technique for multilevel microstructures using poly(dimethylsiloxane) mold combined with a screen mask

Abstract

This letter presents a microfabrication technology of multilevel microstructures via the soft-imprint technique using poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) mold attached with a screen mask, TEM grid. A prepolymer and monomer mixture, after short UV exposure, rises only up to the open spot of TEM grid, sequentially into the groove of the PDMS mold, then multilevel microstructures are formed in one-step process. The proposed technique is an inexpensive, simple, and reliable method to fabricate multilevel microstructures without expensive and complex lithographic tools. Thus, using this multilevel microfabrication method, various multilevel microstructures of the combination of TEM grid pattern and PDMS mold groove are easily generated with good pattern fidelity. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.