Microcontact printing on PDMS

 

This figure shows the key steps for the process called ‘microcontact printing’. This process uses Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) which is assembled with a pattern. It is created not unlike conventional ink stamps (positive – negative), only much smaller (micro scale). The piece of PDMS shown is assembled with a circular pattern.

A chemical ‘ink’ is dropped on the PDMS, and it is stamped onto a gold substrate. Two liquids (a PFS solution and THF solvent) are poured onto the substrate, resulting in two different molecular regions on the substrate. The PFS solution reacts differently with the printed regions than with gold.

This figure is created with a large extend of drawing by hand. the reflection and color gradients on the ink are drawn by hand, the solutions splashing on the gold surface, and the heavy depth of field in the enlarged view is carefully blurred out in 12 different layers to achieve realism, rather than to blend 1 blurred layer with the unblurred layer.