Capillary-driven self-assembly of microchips on oleophilic/oleophobic patterned surface using adhesive droplet in ambient air

This letter describes a capillary-driven self-assembly technique using oleophilic/oleophobic patterned surface and adhesive in ambient air environment. We use a topographical microstructure of porous ormocer functionalized with a fluorinated trichlorosilane for the oleophobic area and gold patterns for the oleophilic area. The resulted oleophilic/oleophobic patterns show significant wettability contrast for adhesive (Delo 18507), with a contact angle of 119 degrees on oleophobic part and 53 degrees on the oleophilic part. Self-alignment of SU-8 microchips on the oleophilic/oleophobic patterns has been demonstrated. The results provide a promising solution for self-alignment of microparts using commercial adhesives in ambient air environment. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.3615053]