Rapid prototyping tools and methods for all-Topas® cyclic olefin copolymer fluidic microsystems

Topas (R), the cyclic olefin copolymer, from Topas Advanced Polymers GmbH has a number of advantages over polymers such as poly(methylmethacrylate), polydimethylsiloxane, and polycarbonate traditionally used in fluid microsystem manufacturing, such as low water absorption, high chemical resistance, good machinability, and good optical properties. A number of different processes for rapid and low-cost prototyping of all-Topas microfluidic systems, made with desktop machinery, are presented. Among the processes are micromilling of fluidic structures with a width down to 25 p,m and sealing of fluidic channels by thermal bonding or laser bonding, using a thin, spin-coated layer of carbon particles between the Topas substrate and the lid to absorb the laser light.