Fabrication of glassy carbon microstructures by soft lithography

Abstract This paper describes fabrication techniques for the fabrication of glassy carbon microstructures. Molding of a resin of poly(furfuryl alcohol) using elastomeric molds yields polymeric microstructures, which are converted to free-standing glassy carbon microstructures by heating ( T ∼500–1100°C) under argon. This approach allows the preparation of macroscopic structures (several mm 2 ) with microscopic features (∼2 μm). Deformation of the molds during molding of the resin allows preparation of curved microstructures. The paper also presents a method of incorporating these structures on a chip by masking and electroplating.