Micro-aspiration assisted lithography

We report on a micro-fabrication method based on micro-aspiration assisted lithography (MAAL). Unlike nanoimprint lithography where a mould is pressed into a resist layer spin coated on a substrate, MAAL uses aspiration forces to guide the resist material in the mould cavities. By suing this technique, the limit of capillary based lithography techniques has been extended. Double layer PDMS moulds were fabricated using multi-layer soft-lithography in which a micro-aspiration network could be introduced close to the pattern layer of the mould. As a result, high resolution patterning could be obtained with a UV curable resist. We also show the results of patterning of a thin layer of PDMS, nano-particles as well as agar gels. We have also provided a semi-quantitative analysis in order to understand the limitation of different approaches.