Rapid prototyping of microscale devices using soft lithography

在过去的几十年里，微电子元件的设计和制造一直遵循着小型化和功率增加的稳定道路。虽然公众从这些重大技术进步中获益，但它们在设计上并不是没有重大挑战。尽管电子元件继续变得更小，但用于冷却它们的设备以及制造微米或纳米级精确公差的热传递元件的能力没有跟上行业中其他进步的步伐。所谓的软光刻克服了在小尺寸下工作的许多困难，允许以非凡的细节和精度制造各种三维形状。软光刻涉及使用类似于喷墨打印机的技术喷洒少量塑料或蜡。通过喷雾应用连续的材料通道，一次一层地构建复杂的形状。通过与计算机辅助设计工具一起工作，复杂的形状可以被制造并相互粘结，形成功能部件，如微通道、泵、阀门和压缩机。软部件可以直接使用或用作模具来形成多个部件，相对简单，而且成本只有微机械加工的一小部分。

The design and manufacture of microelectronic components has followed a steady path of miniaturization and increased power for the past several decades. While the public has reaped the benefits of these major technological advancements, they have not come without significant design challenges.  While electronic components have continued to get smaller, the devices used to cool them and the ability to fabricate heat transfer components to precise tolerances at the micro or nano scale has not kept pace with other advancements in the industry.  A relatively new technology, called soft lithography overcomes many of the difficulties of working at small dimensions and allows a variety of three-dimensional shapes to be fabricated with extraordinary detail and precision.   Soft lithography involves spraying small volumes of plastics or waxes using a technology similar to an ink jet printer.  Successive passes of material are applied through a spray to construct complex shapes one layer at a time.  By working in conjunction with a computer-aided design tool, intricate shapes can be fabricated and bonded to one another to form functioning parts such as microchannels, pumps, valves and compressors.  The soft parts can be used directly or used as a mold to form multiple components with relative simplicity and for a fraction of the cost associated with micromachining.