PDMS Processing at SNF

Version 1.00 (08/03/2015)

Outline
PDMS raw materials
Overview of PDMS processing capabilities at
SNF
Fabrication of the mold
PDMS processing protocols
Controlled thickness through spin-coating and
dilution
Bonding PDMS to the substrate

PDMS Raw Materials

What you will need
Dow Corning Sylgard 182/184 Silicone
Elastomer Kit
Includes base polymer and curing
agent
Sylgard 182 cures slower at room
temperature and thus allows
longer working time. Its also
better for thinner films.
See datasheets below for more
information in order to decide
which one will work best for you.

Where to buy
Can be purchased from online
retailers like Sigma Aldrich, Ellsworth
and even Amazon.

Base polymer

Curing agent

PDMS Processing Tools at SNF

nSIL Lab
Most of the PDMS processing will take place in
the nSIL lab. Contact Michelle/Carsen for safety
training and room access.
(https://snf.stanford.edu/SNF/equipment/nSiL)

Tools available for PDMS processing in nSIL:

Glass/Plasticware
Weighing balance
Thinky mixer
Environmental plasma etcher
Curing oven
Vacuum degassing chamber

In the fab
Drytek 2/4 and MRC etchers can be
used for surface activation of PDMS
prior to bonding in addition to the
environmental plasma tool in nSIL.
Wet benches (solvent, RCA, piranha)
can be used to clean your master
mold and/or final substrate prior to
PDMS pour or bonding.
The DUV flood exposure tool located
in the wafer saw room can also be
used for surface activation.

Fabrication of the master mold

Photomask fabrication
https://snf.stanford.edu/SNF/p
rocesses/processmodules/photolithography/ma
skmaking
Layout design (decide
minimum feature, contact
aligner or stepper, etc.)
Software for layout design

Submit to mask shop

Alternatives
4 Si/SIO2/quartz/SOI wafers You may not need a
can all be used. Pattern will be
master with direct
etched into the wafer.
patterning of the PDMS
SU-8 can also be used, in
filmthrough lithography,
which case the pattern will be
defined by litho only, with no
CNC, hand-cutting, etc.

Patterning the master

etch required.
Alternative substrates can also
be used (machined Al,
polycarbonate, Teflon, etc.)
keeping in mind they likely
cannot be further processed
on SNF wafer tools.

Mixing the PDMS

Step 1
Combine base and curing
agent at 10:1 ratio (by
weight) using the balance and
pouring each component
directly into the Thinky
compatible plastic cup.
Alternatively, a syringe can be
used to dispense each
component instead of
pouring. Use a separate
syringe for each (available in
10ml and 1ml sizes in the SNF
stockroom).

Step 2
Thoroughly mix using the
Thinky which will also
remove bubbles
simultaneously.
Alternatively, if you mix
with a stirring rod you will
then need to place into
the vacuum chamber for
a few minutes to remove
the bubbles.

Preparing the master mold for easier PDMS

release
2. Use a lift off layer
Mold preparation
1. Treat mold surface
Depending on the mold Rendering the mold surface Coat mold with photoresist
(eg 3612) prior to pouring
material, you may have
hydrophobic can help to
PDMS.
difficulty peeling off the
peel off cured PDMS.
Once PDMS is poured and
PDMS film once cured.
Use YES oven to deposit
cured, dip into acetone which
HMDS on the mold prior to
will dissolve the photoresist
There are two strategies to
pouring PDMS.
and lift off the PDMS film.
make this easier.
Use the Drytek2/4 or MRC
etcher to coat the mold with
fluorinated polymer prior to
pouring PDMS.

This technique is useful for

PDMS films <100um thick,
which may be hard to
manipulate by hand without
damaging the film.

PDMS pouring, degassing and curing

Pouring the PDMS

Curing
Degassing
Place mold into a wide After pouring, you may Sylgard 184 can be cured at
room temperature for 48h
have trapped air pockets
mouthed beaker or similar
or more quickly at higher
glass or plasticware in order between the PDMS and
temperatures.
mold especially with
to contain the excess PDMS
smaller feature sizes.
35min at 100C
which will flow off your
20min at 125C
mold.
Place the container with
10min at 150C
mold into the vacuum
Additionally, you may
chamber and pump down Sylgard 182 will not cure
consider sequestering the
for 15-30min. This will
appreciably at room
PDMS on the mold by
remove the trapped air
temperature and will
physical isolation (see
pockets.
require the use of the oven.
illustration below).

Spincoating PDMS for controlled thickness: Part 1

Thickness vs spin speed
Sylgard 184 thickness as a function of spin
speed, just after base and curing agent were
mixed in a 10:1 ratio.
Closed circles are measurements with a spin
time of t=30s, open circles are data points
from [Zhang et al. (2004)] with t=60s, and the
solid line is the theoretical fit W=0.23 -1.14
(W in meters, in rpm).
The inset shows the same plot on logarithmic
scales.

From http://willem.engen.nl/uni/intern-mbx/material/Sylgard-184-spincoat.php

Spincoating PDMS for controlled thickness: Part 2

Thickness vs spin time
Thickness of the 100% PDMS film under two
different spin speeds as a function of spin
time.
Each data point is the average of the mean
thickness of three slides. The error bar is the
95% confidence interval.

Each curve is a plot of the following equation:

t = spin time
w = angular velocity
h = thickness
h0 = 180um
c = 2.86 x10-10 RPM-2um-2s-1

Spincoating PDMS for controlled thickness: Part 3

Thicknesses less than 5um with dilution
For thicknesses less than 5um, PDMS can also be
diluted first which will reduce the required spin
speed and time. Koschwanez et al have used tertbutyl alcohol (TBA) with the following results (see
right panel).
Each data point is the average of the mean
thickness of three slides. Each slide was spun for 5
min. The error bar is the 95% confidence interval.

Thicknesses less than 5um without dilution

Thicknesses down to 200nm can also be achieved
by using less curing agent (20:1 or 30:1) and high
spin speeds (12k RPM) and spin times (>60s).

Bonding PDMS to the working substrate: Part 1

PDMS surface activation
PDMS can form a van der Waals bond to
glass, quartz and oxide surfaces, but will
only withstand limited pressure and
shear force. In order to bond
permanently to the substrate, you will
need to activate the surface (ie break
bonds).

After surface activation, PDMS will bond

permanently to hydrophilic substrates.
These include Si/SiO2/quartz wafers,
glass slides, among others.

Surface activation options

Environmental plasma etcher in nSIL
lab
Oxygen plasma in the fab on Drytek
2/4 and MRC
https://snf.stanford.edu/SNF/equipment/dryetching/drytek2-model-100-drytek2-semiclean
https://snf.stanford.edu/SNF/equipment/dryetching/drytek4-model-100-modified-drytek4
https://snf.stanford.edu/SNF/equipment/dryetching/mrc-model-55-rie-mrc-contaminated

DUV flood exposure tool in wafer saw

room

Bonding PDMS to the working substrate: Part 2

Substrate preparation
For best bonding, its a good
idea to ensure the substrate
surface is clean of
contaminants that can
interfere with the bonding
and/or cause voids or air
pockets at the interface. This
can be achieved by a piranha
or solvent rinse.
(Optional) The substrate may
also be activated by plasma
or UV/ozone in the same
manner as PDMS to promote
better bonding.

Bonding to substrate
After surface treatment, there is a ~30min window in
which to form a permanent bond between the PDMS
and substrate. This window can extended by
immersing the PDMS in water immediately after
surface activation.
Activated PDMS will bond immediately to the
substrate on contact, which can make alignment
difficult. A thin layer of methanol dispensed between
the two prior to contact will allow adjustments to be
made for a few minutes afterwards.
After bonding, its a good idea to heat the assembled
device for 15-30min at 60-80C to finalize the bonding
and to quench any dangling bonds on remaining
unbonded surfaces.