Fabrication of fluidic manifold systems using single exposure greyscale masks

Lab-on-a-chip devices are currently being developed at the University of Wales, Bangor. These devices can be used to manipulate and characterise bio-particles suspended in a fluid medium. For precise operation, accurate fluidic transport within these devices is required, for example at channel junctions where flow rates or mixing must be controlled. We present a technique for the production of varying cross-section channels and fluidic manifolds by photolithographic exposure of greyscale masks. This technique is ideally suited to the rapid prototyping and production of lab-on-a-chip devices, since a single exposure system is both faster and simpler than other methods currently available.