Laser-machining of elastomeric microstencils

We present laser-machining as a unique approach for the rapid fabrication of poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) elastomeric microstencils. User-defined patterns are easily created in CAD and imported into CAM control software to machine a thin PDMS membrane with an ArF intra-cavity variable aperture excimer laser (lambda=193 nm). Laser-machining can be used to quickly and directly create on-demand microstencils by modifying the CAD program, making laser-machining an attractive alternative to indirectly fabricating microstencils with traditional methods. Laser-machining of the PDMS results in discrete patterns created in the membrane. These etched void spaces can be used to pattern protein and/or cells. Our resulting 50 mu m thick microstencils include a wide range of etched feature dimensions (similar to 10 mu m - 1 cm) and geometries (Cartesian and polar), and can be used multiple times (>15) demonstrating their functionality and relative durability. Laser-machining of elastomeric microstencils is a scalable process and can be used to control the placement of protein and cells for a variety of applications in the biomedical sciences including high-throughput assays for drug discovery and the creation of cellular micro-environments in single or co-culture platforms.