Thermally-induced miniaturization for micro- and nanofabrication: progress and updates

The field of micro- and nanofabrication has developed extensively in the past several decades with rising interest in alternative fabrication techniques. Growth of these areas has been driven by needs that remain unaddressed by traditional lithographical methods: inexpensive, upscalable, biocompatible, and easily integrated into complete lab-on-a-chip (LOC) systems. Shape memory polymers (SMPs) have been explored as an alternative substrate. This review first focuses on structure fabrication at the micron and nanoscale using specifically heat-shrinkable SMPs and highlights the innovative improvements to this technology in the past several years. The second part of the review illustrates demonstrated applications of these micro- and nanostructures fabricated from heat-shrinkable SMP films. The review concludes with a discussion about future prospects of heat-shrinkable SMP structures for integration into LOC systems.