Generation of precision microstructures based on reconfigurable photoresponsive hydrogels for high-resolution polymer replication and microoptics

• Published in: Nature communications 2024-07, Vol.15 (1), p.5673-10, Article 5673
• Main Authors: Zhu, Pang, Song, Qingchuan, Bhagwat, Sagar, Mayoussi, Fadoua, Goralczyk, Andreas, Nekoonam, Niloofar, Sanjaya, Mario, Hou, Peilong, Tisato, Silvio, Kotz-Helmer, Frederik, Helmer, Dorothea, Rapp, Bastian E.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 142/126; 639/301/1005/190; 639/301/923/1027; 639/301/930/1032; 639/624/399/1028; 639/638/298/923/1027; Diffractive optical elements; Engraving; Fabrication; Humanities and Social Sciences; Hydrogels; Irradiation; Micro-optics; Microfluidic devices; Microfluidics; Microlenses; Micropatterning; Microstructured surfaces; Mold; multidisciplinary; Optical components; Optics; Photolithography; Polydimethylsiloxane; Polymers; Replication; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Smoothness; Ultraviolet radiation
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-50008-6

Microstructured molds are essential for fabricating various components ranging from precision optics and microstructured surfaces to microfluidics. However, conventional fabrication technology such as photolithography requires expensive equipment and a large number of processing steps. Here, we report a facile method to fabricate micromolds based on a reusable photoresponsive hydrogel: Uniform micropatterns are engraved into the hydrogel surface using photo masks under UV irradiation within a few minutes. Patterns are replicated using polydimethylsiloxane with minimum feature size of 40 μm and smoothness of R q  ~ 3.4 nm. After replication, the patterns can be fully erased by light thus allowing for reuse as a new mold without notable loss in performance. Utilizing greyscale lithography, patterns with different height levels can be produced within the same exposure step. We demonstrate the versatility of this method by fabricating diffractive optical elements devices and a microlens array and microfluidic device with 100 µm wide channels. Microstructured molds play an important role in polymer replication for applied fields like microfluidics and precision optics. Here, authors present a method to generate micromolds based on reusable photoresponsive hydrogels and demonstrate its application for microfluidic devices and optical elements.