Polymer microfabrication technologies for microfluidic systems

Polymers have assumed the leading role as substrate materials for microfluidic devices in recent years. They offer a broad range of material parameters as well as material and surface chemical properties which enable microscopic design features that cannot be realised by any other class of materials. A similar range of fabrication technologies exist to generate microfluidic devices from these materials. This review will introduce the currently relevant microfabrication technologies such as replication methods like hot embossing, injection molding, microthermoforming and casting as well as photodefining methods like lithography and laser ablation for microfluidic systems and discuss academic and industrial considerations for their use. A section on back-end processing completes the overview.