Godin:Protocols/Multilayer PDMS

Safety

 * Safety goggles
 * Nitrile gloves
 * Lab coat
 * Clean room gowning
 * Fume hood

Materials

 * Valve and Microchannel masters
 * Distilled water
 * Ethanol
 * Isopropanol
 * Stereo microscope
 * Scotch tape
 * Pipette tip
 * Tweezers
 * Polystyrene dish
 * Vacuum
 * Oven
 * Aluminum foil
 * Scalpel
 * Weighing dish
 * Scale
 * PDMS
 * Godin:Protocols/Sonicator
 * Godin:Protocols/Spin coater
 * Godin:Protocols/Mask aligner

Description
This protocol details the fabrication of a 2 layer PDMS device, consisting of a valve layer (top) and channel layer (below). It is assumed that masters for respective layers have already been fabricated (see Godin:Protocols/SU-8 Master, Godin:Protocols/AZ Master). The idea is to modify the silicone elastomer base to curing agent ratio, thereby modifying PDMS elasticity.

Valve Layer

 * Mix PDMS 7:1

For most devices, 80g of PDMS is sufficient to produce reasonably-sized devices. Weigh 70g of silicone elastomer base on the scale using the weighing dish, then add 10g of curing agent. Make sure to maintain the 7:1 ratio; if too much is added, add more base as required. Use a pipette tip to mix the solution for 10 min under the fume hood. Blow dry the valve master with nitrogen, and place in a polystyrene dish. Use Scotch tape to fix the wafer at the center of the dish by taping all sides. We want to prevent the wafer from floating up, or PDMS from getting under the wafer. Close the dish with the lid.


 * 30 min degass

Place the dish in the vacuum chamber, and allow it to degass for 30 minutes, or until it stops bubbling. To prevent overflow, you may have to periodically break vacuum and allow some bubbles to escape.


 * 12 min @ 80°C

The dish is now placed in the oven for 12 min at 80°C. The idea is to partially cure the PDMS, so it's solid but still sticky. Let the PDMS cool for about an hour afterwards; this will facilitate the next step.


 * Punch valve holes

Cut out each device from the wafer. Be careful to avoid cutting near master features, as it will be reused for future devices.

Use the 0.75 mm hole punch to make a hole at the valve inlet for each PDMS device. The stereo-microscope is great for finding your features. Keep the light arms at a low incidence angle with respect to the PDMS surface so the features stand out. Place your PDMS piece on a junk piece of PDMS so you can easily go through without damaging the punch, and keeping holes consistent. The PDMS should be fairly sticky, so do your best to make it smooth. Try to keep holes vertical.


 * Cleaning

Rinse devices thoroughly with distilled water, making sure the water goes through the valve hole. Next, sonicate for 5 min in each of these solutions: soapy water, deionised water, ethanol and isopropanol. Dry with nitrogen, store in a closed clean dish.

Fluidic Layer

 * Mix PDMS 20:1

Prepare the PDMS as before, but with 10 g of base and 0.5 g of curing agent.


 * 30 min degass

Place the weighing dish in the vacuum chamber, degassing for 30 min.


 * Spin coat

Enter the clean room, cover the top of the spin coater in aluminum foil to facilitate future cleaning. Place the wafer on the spin coater using the wafer alignment tool, being very careful not to add bubbles. Set the program to D, or so as to have the following:

40s @ 3000 RPM, ACL = 010 (20 microns)


 * 10 min @ 80°C

Place the wafer in a covered dish, exit clean room and place the wafer in the over for 10 min at 80°C.

Device Fabrication

 * Alignment

Enter the clean room with both the valve layer devices and channels. Use the mask aligner to carefully align the channels to the valves. Place the wafer and turn on vacuum in soft contact mode. Place a blank clean slide on the slide holder accessory, and vacuum it in place. Place your first device channels facing down beneath the glass slide. It should still be sticky enough to stay in place. Close the aligner lid, and adjust the channel position to correspond to the valve. You may do so first by eye, then by using the microscope. When all is in place, turn the elevation knob to lift the channels into the valves. This may require multiple XY adjustments to get it just right. When there is contact, turn the knob a bit further so as to make contact over the viewing area. Next, remove the sample vacuum to release the slide, and lift the lid. The slide should stay in place during plate lift. Peel off the glass slide, and put it back in position with vacuum. Continue as such until all valve PDMS pieces are positioned on the wafer. Be careful to lower the Z stage between devices, so as to not damage anything. Also note that the lid lifts in an arc, so move your wafer out of the way as necessary to prevent contact between PDMS devices.


 * >2 hrs @ 80°C

Place your wafer in the oven for at least 2 hrs at 80°C. If possible, leave it overnight.


 * Punch fluidic holes

Use the scalpel to cut out the PDMS devices from the wafer, again avoiding any master features. Use the stereo-microscope technique as before to punch the fluidic holes with the 0.75 mm hole punch. The holes should be cleaner then before, as the PDMS has hardened considerably since last hole punching.


 * Cleaning

Follow the same cleaning procedure as before. After thorough rinsing in distilled water, sonicate for 5 min in each of these solutions: soapy water, deionised water, ethanol and isopropanol. Dry with nitrogen, store in a closed clean dish.

Reusing Masters
To use your channel master again, you'll have to clean out the sticky PDMS layer left in place. To do so, simply prepare a 10:1 PDMS mixture as before, with 20g base, 2g curing agent. Use Scotch tape to stick the wafer on the bottom of a dish, and pour the PDMS. Degassing is not necessary since we're using this PDMS as a means to remove the underlying layer of PDMS. Place in oven for 1 hr at 80°C, then peel off carefully avoiding any stress to the wafer.