Complicated structures could be easier to fabricate with help from electrons.Aniruddh Sarkar,Prashant Mali,and Rakesh Lal at the Indian Institute of Technology,Bombay,have manipulated electron beam(e-beam)lithography so that polymeric microfluidic devices can be built in one step(Lab Chip 2006,6,310-315)."There isn't a mask.There isn't a mold.There isn't any waiting around for various processes that are needed in other techniques,[for example] sacrificial layers that have to be patterned and then etched," says Sarkar.The investigators have fabricated covered microfluidic channels for DNA electrophoresis,channels with embedded micropil-lars,and a chaotic micromixer.With their scheme,Sarkar says,"You get to the structure directly from a [computer-aided design] pattern."
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