Free-Form in Situ Fabrication of Microfluidic Devices

In-situ fabrication of microfluidic devices using stop-flow maskless lithography and image-guided dynamic patterning. Using the closed-loop control along with stop-flow functionality and leveraging the swelling behavior of the photocurable polymer, we were able to fabricate sub-micron high aspect ratio channels close to the diffraction limit. We have demonstrated the fabrication of a large micropillar array for deterministic lateral displacement cell sorting and a 1 um channel for squeezing cells. This method can solve the critical limitations in rapid prototyping of microfluidic devices, making the exploration of design space affordable and convenient even beyond the resolution of traditional photolithography.