A Considered Approach to Lab-on-a-Chip Fabrication

This chapter details the common fabrication processes for lab-on-a-chip (LOC) devices. Particular attention has been paid to how the functionality of these devices can be enhanced though the adoption of a considered engineering based approach to chip fabrication which encompasses the design, material selection and manufacture process stages. Fabrication considerations in this chapter extend to the potential for mass production of LOC devices using a range of materials and manufacturing methods. The adoption of more time and cost-effective fabrication methodologies is critical to the future integration of these devices into mainstream applications. Additional factors such as device repeatability, dimensional tolerance and quality control, all of which vary between fabrication processes, are also considered and discussed.