Poly (dimethyl siloxane) micro/nanostructure replication using proton beam written masters

Proton beam writing (PBW) has been proven to be a powerful tool for fabricating micro and nanostructures with high aspect ratio. However, being a direct-write technique, and therefore, a serial process, PBW is not economic for low cost multiple component production. Techniques for replicating PBW structures with low cost are necessary for applications in for example nanofluidics, tissue engineering and optical devices. We have investigated casting poly (dimethyl siloxane) (PDMS Sylgard 184, Dow Corning Corp.) with PBW structures as masters. First, a 2 MeV focused H2+ beam was written into a 2 μm thick PMMA layer spin coated onto 50 μm thick Kapton film substrate. Next, these PMMA structures, with details down to 700 nm, were replicated with PDMS. Without any release coating treatment, PDMS circular pillars, 700 nm in diameter were successfully replicated. We also fabricated a nickel master with nanofeature dimensions and 2 μm depth using proton beam writing and sulfamate electroplating. The nickel master was used to successfully replicate a prototype DNA separation chip using PDMS.