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Low-Cost Microfabrication Tool Box
Microsystems are key enabling technologies, with applications found in almost every industrial field, including in vitro diagnostic, energy harvesting, automotive, telecommunication, drug screening, etc. Microsystems, such as microsensors and actuators, are typically made up of components below 1000...
Autores principales: | , , , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
MDPI
2020
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7074766/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31991826 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/mi11020135 |
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author | Charmet, Jérôme Rodrigues, Rui Yildirim, Ender Challa, Pavan Kumar Roberts, Benjamin Dallmann, Robert Whulanza, Yudan |
author_facet | Charmet, Jérôme Rodrigues, Rui Yildirim, Ender Challa, Pavan Kumar Roberts, Benjamin Dallmann, Robert Whulanza, Yudan |
author_sort | Charmet, Jérôme |
collection | PubMed |
description | Microsystems are key enabling technologies, with applications found in almost every industrial field, including in vitro diagnostic, energy harvesting, automotive, telecommunication, drug screening, etc. Microsystems, such as microsensors and actuators, are typically made up of components below 1000 microns in size that can be manufactured at low unit cost through mass-production. Yet, their development for commercial or educational purposes has typically been limited to specialized laboratories in upper-income countries due to the initial investment costs associated with the microfabrication equipment and processes. However, recent technological advances have enabled the development of low-cost microfabrication tools. In this paper, we describe a range of low-cost approaches and equipment (below £1000), developed or adapted and implemented in our laboratories. We describe processes including photolithography, micromilling, 3D printing, xurography and screen-printing used for the microfabrication of structural and functional materials. The processes that can be used to shape a range of materials with sub-millimetre feature sizes are demonstrated here in the context of lab-on-chips, but they can be adapted for other applications. We anticipate that this paper, which will enable researchers to build a low-cost microfabrication toolbox in a wide range of settings, will spark a new interest in microsystems. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-7074766 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2020 |
publisher | MDPI |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-70747662020-03-20 Low-Cost Microfabrication Tool Box Charmet, Jérôme Rodrigues, Rui Yildirim, Ender Challa, Pavan Kumar Roberts, Benjamin Dallmann, Robert Whulanza, Yudan Micromachines (Basel) Article Microsystems are key enabling technologies, with applications found in almost every industrial field, including in vitro diagnostic, energy harvesting, automotive, telecommunication, drug screening, etc. Microsystems, such as microsensors and actuators, are typically made up of components below 1000 microns in size that can be manufactured at low unit cost through mass-production. Yet, their development for commercial or educational purposes has typically been limited to specialized laboratories in upper-income countries due to the initial investment costs associated with the microfabrication equipment and processes. However, recent technological advances have enabled the development of low-cost microfabrication tools. In this paper, we describe a range of low-cost approaches and equipment (below £1000), developed or adapted and implemented in our laboratories. We describe processes including photolithography, micromilling, 3D printing, xurography and screen-printing used for the microfabrication of structural and functional materials. The processes that can be used to shape a range of materials with sub-millimetre feature sizes are demonstrated here in the context of lab-on-chips, but they can be adapted for other applications. We anticipate that this paper, which will enable researchers to build a low-cost microfabrication toolbox in a wide range of settings, will spark a new interest in microsystems. MDPI 2020-01-25 /pmc/articles/PMC7074766/ /pubmed/31991826 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/mi11020135 Text en © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
spellingShingle | Article Charmet, Jérôme Rodrigues, Rui Yildirim, Ender Challa, Pavan Kumar Roberts, Benjamin Dallmann, Robert Whulanza, Yudan Low-Cost Microfabrication Tool Box |
title | Low-Cost Microfabrication Tool Box |
title_full | Low-Cost Microfabrication Tool Box |
title_fullStr | Low-Cost Microfabrication Tool Box |
title_full_unstemmed | Low-Cost Microfabrication Tool Box |
title_short | Low-Cost Microfabrication Tool Box |
title_sort | low-cost microfabrication tool box |
topic | Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7074766/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31991826 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/mi11020135 |
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