Introducing Photolithography, Soft Lithography, and Microfluidics

Microfabrication, microfluidics, and chip-based analysis are emergent techniques often discussed in the literature, but they are recent subjects and are not typically addressed in undergraduate curricula. Mirofluidics is an application of the microfabrication techniques that are widely used in the semiconductor industry and it is also an accessible way to demonstrate interesting aspects of fluid flow at small volumes. This paper presents a laboratory exercise that brings these elements together. From this exercise, we hope that students take away a greater familiarity with several important concepts: photo-induced polymerization, lithography, and laminar flow in small channels.