Plastic MEMS: large scale microstructured materials and surfaces using industrial polymers and plastics

自20世纪50年代S发明以来，微制造一直以无机材料为基础，用于制造微型化电路。该领域的巨大进步已应用于越来越小的电子设备，并已通过微电子机械系统(MEMS)领域适用于机械传感器和执行器。然而，在某些应用中，基于硅的加工和无机微制造技术对于商业上可行的制造来说要么不合适，要么过于昂贵。这包括微结构产品，其中单个设备的尺寸必须大于几平方厘米。聚合物微机械领域的最新进展为在连续薄膜、大面积衬底或注塑设备上构建微结构材料提供了可能性--潜在地将塑料带来的成本节约应用于微尺度应用，就像塑料为大尺度产品带来的一样。开发大面积微加工聚合物结构的工具、技术和表征方法将解决服务不足的制造利基市场，并将微加工技术应用于廉价材料涂层、智能表面、一次性微流体系统等。

Microfabrication has been based on inorganic materials since its inception in the 1950's for manufacturing miniaturized circuits. Tremendous advances in the field have been applied towards ever-smaller electronics, and have been adapted for mechanical sensors and actuators through the field of micro-electro-mechanical-systems (MEMS). However, there are applications where silicon based processing and inorganic microfabrication techniques are either inappropriate or too expensive for commercially viable manufacturing. These include microstructured products where individual device sizes must be greater than several square centimeters in size. Recent advances in the field of polymer MEMS offer the possibility of microstructuring materials on continuous films, large area substrates or injection-molded devices - potentially applying the same cost savings to microscale applications that plastics have brought to macroscale products. Developing the tools, technologies and characterization methods for large-area microfabricated polymer structures will address an underserved manufacturing niche and apply microfabrication technologies to inexpensive material coatings, smart surfaces, disposable microfluidic systems and more.