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Three-dimensional micro-channel fabrication in

polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) elastomer.
Microelectromech Syst J 9:76-81
ARTICLE in JOURNAL OF MICROELECTROMECHANICAL SYSTEMS APRIL 2000
Impact Factor: 1.92 DOI: 10.1109/84.825780 Source: IEEE Xplore

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JOURNAL OF MICROELECTROMECHANICAL SYSTEMS, VOL. 9, NO. 1, MARCH 2000

Three-Dimensional Micro-Channel Fabrication in

Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) Elastomer
Byung-Ho Jo, Linda M. Van Lerberghe, Kathleen M. Motsegood, and David J. Beebe, Member, IEEE

AbstractThis paper describes a fabrication technique for

building three-dimensional (3-D) micro-channels in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) elastomer. The process allows for the stacking
of many thin (less than 100- m thick) patterned PDMS layers
to realize complex 3-D channel paths. The master for each layer
is formed on a silicon wafer using an epoxy-based photoresist
(SU 8). PDMS is cast against the master producing molded
layers containing channels and openings. To realize thin layers
with openings, a sandwich molding configuration was developed
that allows precise control of the PDMS thickness. The master
wafer is clamped within a sandwich that includes flat aluminum
plates, a flexible polyester film layer, a rigid Pyrex wafer, and a
rubber sheet. A parametric study is performed on PDMS surface
activation in a reactive-ion-etching system and the subsequent
methanol treatment for bonding and aligning very thin individual
components to a substrate. Low RF power and short treatment
times are better than high RF power and long treatment times,
respectively, for instant bonding. Layer-to-layer alignment of less
then 15 m is achieved with manual alignment techniques that
utilize surface tension driven self-alignment methods. A coring
procedure is used to realize off-chip fluidic connections via the
bottom PDMS layer, allowing the top layer to remain smooth and
flat for complete optical access. [444]
Index TermsBonding, micro-molding, polydimethylsiloxane,
reactive ion etching, three-dimensional micro-channel, SU-8.

I. INTRODUCTION

N RECENT years, the development of micro-fluidic systems

based on MEMS technologies has been attracting scientific
and industrial attention. Early developments were mostly based
on conventional semiconductor materials and techniques originally developed for the integrated circuit industry. Use of these
materials and techniques for developing micro-fluidic devices
has not only resulted in high cost, but also many limitations on
fabrication, packaging and testing. Recently, however, several
alternative technologies using organic polymers have been presented. Renaud et al.has demonstrated the use of Epon SU-8
photosensitive polymer for making multilayered channel networks [1]. Another polymer, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), is
receiving an increasing amount of attention from the micro-fluManuscript received May 7, 1999; revised October 28, 1999. This work was
supported by the Defense Agency Advanced Research Projects Agency, Microfluidics Molecular Systems and Composite CAD Programs under Agreement
#F33615-98-1-2853. Subject Editor, G. Stemme.
B.-H. Ho, L. M. Van Lerberghe, and K. M. Motsegood are with the Beckman
Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, Department of Electrical and
Computer Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL
61801 USA.
D. J. Beebe is with the Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of
Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706 USA, and is also with the Beckman
Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign, Urbana IL 61801 USA (e-mail: dbeebe@engr.wisc.edu).
Publisher Item Identifier S 1057-7157(00)02010-2.

idics field. PDMS micro-molding techniques have been used to

fabricate micro-fluidic systems by several groups [2][5]. Unlike traditional micro-fabrication materials, such as silicon and
glass, PDMS is a low-cost material. Micro-molding processes
are simple and rapid when compared to traditional etching and
bonding approaches. The primary advantages of PDMS material
for micro-fluidics applications include ease of bonding, optical
properties (transparent from 230700-nm wavelength within the
range of 190700 nm), and permeability to gases for some biological applications. Therefore, PDMS is particularly suitable
for prototyping and testing various micro-fluidic devices. In particular, the study of mixing at the micro scale [6] would benefit from the ability to create complex three-dimensional (3-D)
channels in PDMS. Although the scientific community has recently witnessed several 3-D component designs [6][9], the
majority of devices were fabricated with silicon and related materials using complicated and time-consuming processes. Moreover, the wet etching of single-crystal silicon is geometrically
limited by the crystallographic planes. Expensive dry-etching
equipment is necessary to make curved vertical walls in a silicon
wafer. Thus, fabricating 3-D channel paths in silicon is often
nontrivial and silicon is not transparent to most wavelengths of
interest for biological applications.
In this paper, we present a simple micro-fabrication technique
that allows the rapid construction of complex 3-D micro-fluidic
channels. A parametric study of PDMS bonding via plasma activation is also reported. The techniques described can be applied to realize various kinds of 3-D micro-fluidic systems such
as micro-mixers, micro-valves, capillary electrophoresis (CE)
systems, and micro total analysis systems ( TAS).
II. EXPERIMENT
A. Fabrication of Patterned PDMS Layers
The micro-fabrication technique developed for constructing
complex 3-D channel paths is based on the stacking of thin
( 100 m) two-dimensional (2-D) patterned PDMS layers.
The schematics of the process flow used to create the 2-D
patterned layers are shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The master for
each layer was fabricated using conventional photolithography
technology and extensions of previously reported techniques
[4], [10], [11]. The layout for each layer was drawn using a
computer-aided design program (MicroStation 95, Exton, PA).
Designs were printed onto transparency films using a high-resolution commercial laser printer system (Linotype Herkules
Imagesetter, Heidelberg, Germany) with a resolution of 5080
dpi. The transparency films were used as masks in contact
photolithography to generate masters with a negative-tone UV

10577157/00$10.00 2000 IEEE

JO et al.: 3-D MICRO-CHANNEL FABRICATION IN PDMS ELASTOMER

Fig. 1. Schematic illustration of the sandwich molding process for thin upper
layers. (a) A master for each layer was formed on a silicon wafer using SU-8
photoresist and standard photolithography procedures. (b) Next, the PDMS
prepolymer mixture was poured onto the master. (c) A transparency film was
placed over the poured prepolymer mixture. (d) A multilayer stack of aluminum
plates, the mold master, the PDMS prepolymer mixture, a transparency film, a
rigid Pyrex wafer, and a rubber sheet is used to form a compression mold. (e)
Finally, all the layers are clamped tightly during the cure.

77

the two parts. The prepolymer mixture was poured onto the
master, and then a transparency film was placed over the prepolymer mixture. The transparency film was carefully lowered
onto the prepolymer mixture, allowing surface tension to pull
the transparency into intimate and continuous contact with the
prepolymer mixture to prevent any bubbles from forming at the
interface [see Fig. 1(c)]. The flexible transparency film provides
an easy way to remove the cover plates from PDMS molds
after curing. The master/prepolymer/transparency stack was
then clamped within a sandwich that includes flat aluminum
plates (top, bottom), a rigid Pyrex wafer, and a rubber sheet
( 4-mm thick) [see Fig. 1(d) and (e)]. The clamped PDMS
prepolymer sandwich was cured for 3 h at 100 C on a hot
plate. After curing, the thin PDMS replicas were peeled off
from the masters.
Most micro-fluidic systems require interconnection to the
external world. Utilizing efficient off-chip connections via the
thick (9 mm) bottom PDMS layer allowed the top layer to
remain smooth and flat for complete optical access (to facilitate
micro-fluidic imaging studies). Fig. 2 shows the molding of
a thick bottom layer and the coring procedure that was used
to connect the fluidic device to an external fluid network with
the inlet and outlet tubes. The master for the bottom layer was
placed in a petri dish and then the prepolymer was poured
onto the master to make a bottom layer thick enough so that
inlet/outlet channels can be cored in it. The soft PDMS allows
inlet/outlet channels to be created by pushing in and pulling out
a 16-gauge syringe needle in the cured PDMS block. In order
to create the L-shaped tunnels, vertical tunnels were first
cored from the top and then horizontal connecting tunnels were
made from the outside sidewall. Fig. 2(c) shows a completed
bottom layer that includes the L-shaped inlet/outlets and
tubes connected to an external fluid network.
B. Fabrication of 3-D Structures with 2-D Patterned Layers

Fig. 2. Scheme for fabricating a thick bottom layer and off-chip connection via
the bottom layer. (a) A master for the bottom layer. (b) Molding a thick bottom
layer in a petri dish. (c) A bottom layer containing L-shaped micro-tunnels and
tube connections.

photoresist (MicroChem Corporation XP SU-8 50, Newton,

MA) on silicon wafers. Fig. 1(a) shows a master formed on a
silicon wafer using the SU-8 photoresist. To realize the thin flat
layers with openings, a sandwich molding configuration was
developed. Fig. 1(b)(e) illustrates schematically the sandwich
molding procedure. A curing agent and PDMS prepolymer
(SYLGARD 184 Silicone Elastomer Kit, Dow Corning, Midland, MI) were thoroughly mixed in a 1 : 10 weight ratio. The
prepolymer mixture was degassed at 2050 mtorr in a desiccator with a mechanical vacuum pump for 1 h to remove any air
bubbles in the mixture and to insure complete mixing between

After fabricating the 2-D patterned layers, the layers were

stacked onto a thick bottom layer and bonded together to form a
3-D channel structure. Fig. 3(a) shows the top view of individual
2-D patterned layers for a 3-D serpentine channel mixer. The
thick bottom layer has a negative relief pattern as the base of a
3-D channel on its surface. Each thin upper layer contains channels and openings needed to realize the final 3-D channel structure. Fig. 3(b) is a high-magnification photograph that shows
the stacked multiple layers forming a L-type mixer geometry. The 3-D serpentine channel was formed by stacking two
thin 2-D layers on top of a thick bottom layer. The middle layer
forms the vertical sections of the 3-D channel. The photograph
also shows the good alignment between layers. The technique
used for bonding alignment was to generate layers of exactly the
same size by using a standard master periphery. A 90 corner
fixture was fabricated out of SU-8 photoresist. Each layer was
placed into the corner with methanol used as a surfactant between each layer [see Fig. 3(c)]. Several holes of exactly the
same size and position in the each layer served as a secondary
alignment key. The surface tension of the methanol at the superimposed holes acts to self align the layers. The alignment
was performed by hand under a low-power stereo microscope.
The accuracy achievable with this method was 15 m. Finally,

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JOURNAL OF MICROELECTROMECHANICAL SYSTEMS, VOL. 9, NO. 1, MARCH 2000

Fig. 3. Photographs and a schematic for fabricating 3-D micro-channel. (a) Top view of individual 2-D patterned layers. (b) High-magnification optical photograph
of the 3-D channel path area of the Fig. 3(d). (c) Scheme for bonding alignment. (d) Photograph of a finished 3-D passive micromixer.

a #1 (about 150- m thick) microscope cover glass was used as

the topmost layer for capping and complete optical access. Once
alignment is finished the stack is moved to a hot plate and heated
to 85 C to evaporate the methanol and complete the bonding.
Fig. 3(d) shows a finished 3-D channel device, a PDMS passive
mixer, assembled from its 2-D component layers. The photograph also shows off-chip connections (inlet and outlet tubes),
alignment keys, and a cover glass placed on the top of stacked
layers.
C. Bonding of Individual Components with RIE System
Oxygen plasma treatment for PDMS surface activation were
carried out using a parallel-plate reactor reactive ion etching
(RIE) system (Technics series 800-IIC) with samples located
on the water-cooled cathode. The power supply was operated
at 13.56 MHz. Experiments were performed to find optimum
conditions of plasma treatment and measure the effects of three
different process parameters: RF power, oxygen partial pressure, and treatment time. Plasma-treated samples were immediately bonded with activated surfaces facing each other. At this
point, no external forces were applied on the samples to assist
the bonding procedure. After 5 min, the bonded area was quantified via manual examination (pulling the pieces apart to determine the percent area bonded).
To study aging effects, PDMS surfaces were activated using
the optimum conditions (70 W, 75 mtorr, 10 s) that had been determined in previous experiments. The plasma-treated samples

were aged with nine different duration times in an air atmosphere. These samples were then bonded and the bonded areas
were examined as described above.
During the bonding experiments, it was found that samples
aged for more then a week after being peeled off from its mold
were not activated by the plasma treatment. The aged surface
was cleaned with a diluted HCl solution (HCl : DI water
volume ratio). In order to evaluate the time dependency of this
cleaning, the aged samples were cleaned for 2 and 8 min, respectively, in the diluted HCl solution. The cleaned samples were
then activated and analyzed with the method described above.
Additionally, a selective area bonding was carried out using
a masking effect (the surface activation based on oxygen ion
bombardment was limited by a physical mask). Certain areas
of the sample surface were masked by placing a 150- m-thick
microscope cover glass on the target area of sample during
the oxygen plasma treatment. Two samples were placed in
the plasma with approximately one-half of the surface area of
one sample masked by the cover glass and the second sample
unmasked. The two samples were then brought into contact
and bonded.
Finally, the effect of methanol on the activated surfaces was
studied. Methanol was used to prevent instant bonding and promote smooth movement between each layer during stacking and
alignment of the layers [12]. The plasma treated sample was
dipped into methanol for 5 min and then placed on a hot plate
with activated surfaces facing each other for 80 min at 85 C
in order to evaporate methanol between the two layers. The

JO et al.: 3-D MICRO-CHANNEL FABRICATION IN PDMS ELASTOMER

79

Fig. 4. Photographs and a schematic for a five-layer stacked micro-channel. (a) Photograph of a completed 3-D micro-channel. (b) Schematic of a channel path
structure. (c) High-magnification optical photograph of a vertical channel path.

bonding quality of the methanol-treated sample was compared

with that of the untreated sample.
III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
A. Fabrication
The demonstration of a more complex 3-D structure, a fivestack multilayer 3-D micro-channel, is shown in Fig. 4(a). It
was fabricated using the sandwich micro-molding process and
the stacking process with five successive layers (each 120- m
thick). The channel path structure of this 3-D device is illustrated in the schematic in Fig. 4(b). A photograph of a vertical
coupling section of the 3-D structure is shown in Fig. 4(c). The
process should continue to scale (i.e., ten or more layers could
easily be stacked using this method). Extensions of this technique will enable a number of complex devices that require 3-D
channel structures.
Fig. 4(a) also shows the fluidic interconnect that directly connects external tubes to the micro tunnels of the thick bottom
layer. The connection method provides reliable sealing because
PDMS material is easily stretched around tubes of slightly larger
diameter than the cored holes. Moreover, these tubes can be detached and reassembled for various purposes without altering
the adhesion properties.
The individual layers were fabricated using the clamp
molding process. A master/prepolymer/transparency stack was
clamped within the sandwich that includes a rigid Pyrex wafer,
a rubber sheet, and flat aluminum plates. The top and bottom

Fig. 5. Scheme for fabricating the PDMS membrane.

aluminum plates provide uniform force onto the stack from

both sides. The rubber sheet provides a mechanically compliant
layer between the top aluminum plate and rigid Pyrex wafer to
compensate for any nonuniformities in the aluminum plates.
The rigid Pyrex wafer produces a flat surface on top of the
cured molds. The flexible transparency film offers an easy way
to remove the rigid cover plates from the molds and maintain
the flat surface on the layers.
The clamping approach can also be used to produce PDMS
membrane patterns in the layers. The scheme for fabricating
the membrane is presented in Fig. 5. By precise control of the
clamping pressure with weights membranes (40- and 75- m
g and 0.5-lb weights, respecthick using 4 lb lb
tively) were formed. Alternatively, one could use hard stops

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JOURNAL OF MICROELECTROMECHANICAL SYSTEMS, VOL. 9, NO. 1, MARCH 2000

TABLE I
COMPARISON OF THE BONDING RESULTS
WITH RIE PROCESS PARAMETERS

TABLE II
AGING OF ACTIVATED PDMS SURFACES

TABLE III
CLEANING EFFECT ON CONTAMINATED PDMS SURFACE

TABLE IV
MASKING EFFECT ON PDMS SURFACE ACTIVATION

fabricated into the masters to control the membrane thickness.

Membrane fabrication further extends the potential fluidic devices that can be formed in PDMS.

TABLE V
METHANOL EFFECT ON PDMS SURFACE

B. Bonding
To determine how the plasma parameters affect bonding,
we varied the following parameters: RF power, oxygen partial
pressure, and treatment time. Table I compares the permanently
bonded areas on 21 samples (experimental runs) that were
examined under each different condition. The results show that
low RF power and short treatment times are better than high
RF power and long treatment times, respectively, for bonding
instantly after plasma treatments. Although the samples did not
immediately adhere to each other with higher power or longer
treatment time, complete bonding was obtained if they were
left intact for several days. We are currently investigating the
chemical basis of this delayed bonding phenomena.
Table II presents the effects of aging plasma treated PDMS
in air prior to bonding. These results indicate that the bonding
has to be carried out within 15 min after a plasma treatment to
ensure complete bonding.
As mentioned in the experimental section, the surface of the
PDMS layer that was aged in air for over a week after peeling
off from its molds was not activated by the oxygen plasma.
The contaminated surface, therefore, should be cleaned before
the oxygen plasma treatment. No cleaning effect was obtained
with deionized water or isopropyl alcohol. The surface could be

cleaned with a diluted HCl solution. Samples that aged over two
months were cleaned with this solution and then treated with
the optimized conditions of oxygen plasma. Table III shows that
the HCl cleaning can provide a contamination free surface that
allows complete bonding even on aged samples. The chemical
changes at the surface of PDMS layer after the HCl cleaning is
under investigation to understand the underlying mechanisms of
the cleaning effect.
In contrast, the bonding in some areas of samples can be intentionally prevented by masking samples from the oxygen ion
bombardment in the RIE system. As the results in Table IV indicate, a thin ( 150- m thick) cover glass can block the ion bombardment so that no bonding occurred at the area of masking.
Only one piece needs to be deactivated (masked) for no bonding
to occur. Selective bonding could be used to create several novel
component designs including simple check valves.
Table V shows that the methanol treatment used to facilitate
the self-alignment steps does not degrade the quality of bonding.

JO et al.: 3-D MICRO-CHANNEL FABRICATION IN PDMS ELASTOMER

IV. CONCLUSION
A 3-D micro-channel fabrication process has been developed
for PDMS elastomer material using a sandwich molding
technique and stacking of many thin patterned layers. Considering the many advantages of PDMS, this fabrication process
is well suited for a wide range of applications in micro-fluidic
component design. The process is rapid and simple. Thus, it
allows rapid design interruptions to be performed, for example,
to investigate the flow fields of a variety of complex channel
structure.

81

Byung-Ho Jo received the B.S. degree in materials science and engineering

from Han-Yang University, Seoul, Korea, in 1981, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in solid-state science and technology from Syracuse University, Syracuse,
NY, in 1991 and 1995, respectively. His doctoral research focused on in-situ ultrahigh vacuum electromigration studies in copper films.
His other work has focused on molecular beam epitaxy and thin-film technology. He has served for three years as a Korea Marine Corps Officer. From
1984 to 1997, he was involved with fabrication process development, device
reliability improvement, and defect characterization at the ULSI Research and
Development Center, LG Semiconductor Corporation, Korea. In 1997, he was a
Fabrication Manager with the CTI-MMIC Corporation, where he was involved
with GaAs MESFET fabrication and testing. He was also responsible for process
transfer from research and development to manufacture. He joined the staff of
the Beckman Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, in 1998,
where he is currently developing new microfabrication processes for BioMEMs
devices.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors would like to thank H. Zeringue and J. Moorthy
for helpful discussions.

Linda M. Van Lerberghe is currently working toward the B.S. degree in chemical engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Her research includes work in the fabrication and design of microelectromechanical systems. She is currently studying the chemical and mechanical properties of polydimethylsiloxane.

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Kathleen M. Motsegood received the B.S. degree in chemistry from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, in 1995.
Her professional experience has included Research Specialist, University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the BioMEM Research Group, and NMR Spectroscopist, Magnetic Resonance Engineering Laboratory.
Ms. Motsegood is a member of Phi Theta Kappa, National Honor Society,
International ESR Society, and the American Chemical Society. She was the
recipient of a 1994 Colgate Palmolive Undergraduate Research Fellowship.

David J. Beebe (S89M90) received the B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, in 1987, 1990,
and 1994, respectively.
From 1987 to 1989, he was an Electrical Engineer for the Kimberly-Clark
Corporation. He is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of
Biomedical Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a Visiting
Professor at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. From 1996 to 1999, he was an
Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
and an Assistant Research Professor at the Beckman Institute for Advanced
Science and Technology. From 1991 to 1994, he was an NIH Biotechnology
Predoctoral Trainee. From 1994 to 1996, he was an Assistant Professor at
Louisiana Tech University. During the summer of 1992, he was with Medtronic
Inc., Minneapolis, MN, where he developed new hemodynamic sensing
concepts. He is a contributing author of Biomedical Digital Signal Processing
(Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1993), Prevention of Pressure Sores.
(Bristol, U.K.: Adam Hilger, 1991, Occupational Ergonomics (New York:
Marcel Dekker, 1996), and Emerging Tools for Single Cell Analysis: Advances
in Optical Measurement Technologies. (New York: Wiley, 1999). He has broad
interests in biomedical instrumentation and the development of microfabricated
devices for biomedical applications. His current interests include technology
development for the handling and analysis of biological objects, development
of novel micro-fluidic devices and systems, use of dendritic and functional
materials in MEMS, development of electrostatic and electrocutaneous haptic
displays, and tactile sensors.