An imprinting apparatus comprises a first carrier for carrying a flexible stamp and a second carrier movable relative to the first carrier and configured to carry a substrate having a resist layer. The second carrier comprises a chuck and a set of chuck actuators for translating a portion of the chuck in a Z-axis direction. Each chuck actuator comprises an actuator output and a lever arrangement between the actuator output and a chuck drive member. The lever arrangement enables an increase in positioning accuracy and increased stiffness, compared to the direct control of position using the actuator output.

Implanted medical devices need a mechanism of immobilization to surrounding tissues, which minimizes tissue damage while providing reliable long-term anchoring. This disclosure relates to techniques for patterning arbitrarily shaped 3D objects and to patterned balloon devices having micro- or nano-patterning on an outer surface of an inflatable balloon. The external pattern can provide enhanced friction and anchoring in an aqueous environment. Examples of these types of patterns are hexagonal arrays inspired by tree frogs, corrugated patterns, and microneedle patterns. The patterned balloon devices can be disposed between an implant and surrounding tissues to facilitate anchoring of the implant.

An imprinting apparatus comprises a first carrier for carrying a flexible stamp having an imprinting pattern and a second carrier movable relative to the first carrier and configured to carry a substrate having a resist layer. The second carrier comprises a chuck and an interface plate over the chuck, wherein the interface plate comprises an array of openings for receiving already-imprinted areas of one side of a substrate while an opposite side of the substrate is to be imprinted. The chuck comprises a fluid passage arrangement for coupling to the openings of the array.

Embodiments of the present disclosure also relate to methods of fabricating flow cell substrates. Some exemplary workflows exploit orthogonal chemistries of substrate layers such that the process does not include polishing steps. Substrates prepared by the method described herein can include a first primer set and a second primer set compatible with simultaneous paired-end sequencing methods.