Microfluid mechanics: progress and opportunities

The application of microfabrication techniques to problems involving fluids is reviewed. A number of scientific issues have been addressed using microstructures designed to confine and manipulate fluids. These problems include studies of fluid motion in percolative structures. chemical applications involving small volumes of reactants and products, biologically inspired experiments involving the manipulation of individual molecules, and studies of fundamental properties of liquids in extremely small geometries. Representative work is described, slang with the ingenious fabrication methods which have been developed. We believe that there are many opportunities for interesting basic physics and also interdisciplinary work in this area. The primary goal of this article is to bring this message to the general physics community.