This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project addresses the commercialization of a 3D microdevice printer for biosensing applications through the development of highly efficient two-photon initiators of Poly(dimethysiloxane)s (PDMS). The microdevice printer developed by Auma Laboratories, LLC is based on two-photon direct-writing. The Auma Printer diverges from current (non-commercial) direct-writing machines because it is designed to pattern bio-specific materials from PDMS over areas up to 1000 mm2, depths up to 10mm, and translate at many tens of centimeters/second. This size and rate is required by the biosensor community where microfabrication on petri-dishes, slides, inside microfluidic channels, etc. with submicron resolution is desired. The structures generated by this technique are tunable polymeric solids, made by scanning a focal volume through an optically addressable monomer precursor. The technique is used to achieve better than 50 nanometers volumetric resolution, and is capable of realizing 3D, functionalized polymeric solids in a single processing step.
Aside from the profoundly unique applications of Two-Photon Direct-Writing (sub-surface and single-step three-dimensional patterning of sensor materials), there is also great potential to flat-out replace far costlier, time consuming, and chemically toxic technologies currently used in polymer microdevice fabrication. However, the list of compatible materials is currently devoid of any PDMS systems. PDMS material has become popular for microfluidic applications during the last decade because of its numerous advantages over silicon and glass. PDMS is inexpensive, is optically transparent down to 230 nm, has very low fluorescence, is gas permeable, and is water impermeable (for cell culturing). By coupling novel two-photon initiators to PDMS systems, this work will have tremendous impact throughout the biological/chemical sensor and medical microdevice manufacturing communities.
