Abstract
We developed a new soft-lithographic fabrication technique which enables the realization of high aspect-ratio PDMS micropillars. The key enabling factor is the adoption of the direct drawing technique incorporated with the in situ heating for simultaneous hardening and solidification of the PDMS micropillars. In addition, our technique allows self-aligned installation of highly reflective microspheres at the tips of the micropillars. Using the transparent PDMS micropillar as a flexible waveguide and the microsphere as a self-aligned reflector, we transformed the microsphere-tipped PDMS micropillars into all optically interrogated acoustic sensors inspired by the cricket’s filiform hairs and successfully demonstrated the sensing capability.
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acknowledgments
This work was supported by National Science Foundation through its grants ECCS-1147413 and ECCS-0954845.
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Paek, J., Kim, J. Microsphere-assisted Fabrication of Ultra-high Aspect-ratio PDMS Micropillars for Bio-inspired Acoustic Sensing. MRS Online Proceedings Library 1749, 13–18 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1557/opl.2015.181
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/opl.2015.181