Materials and methods of making have been developed for mass production of thermoplastic microfluidic chips. An elastomer diaphragm with a stress relieving feature can be used in microfluidic valves, pump diaphragms, and diaphragm micropumps. An optimized pump chamber design for complete fluid displacement and chamber geometry are provided. Microfluidic pressure regulators use a pneumatically actuated elastic membrane in a back-pressure regulator configuration. Microfluidic accumulators store pressurized fluid in a microfluidic chip. Removable caps for cell culture and a quick release top are described. Methods to incorporate hydrogels and ECM scaffolds have been developed. Electro pneumatic manifolds connect and control of multiple microfluidic devices vertically or on a rotary mechanism.

Three-dimensional (3D) micro-scale shells are presented with openings of various sizes and geometries on the surface. The shell consist of a suspended ring-shaped resonator, multiple support beams, a support post, and a cap region that connects the support beams to the support post. Shells with openings of various sizes and geometries allow the creation of micro electromechanical systems (MEMS) sensors and actuators with a wide range of engineered mechanical and electrical properties. The openings on the shell surface can, for example, control the mechanical quality factor (Q) and resonance frequencies of the shell when the shell is used as a suspended proof mass of a mechanical resonator of a vibratory gyroscope. The shells can also serve as mechanical supporting layers and/or an electrode connection layer for MEMS actuators and sensors that use 3D shells as proof masses.

A semiconductor device structure is provided. The semiconductor device structure includes a first substrate including a first face and a second face opposite the first face. A second substrate is bonded to the first face of the first substrate such that the second face of the first substrate faces away from the second substrate. One or more recesses are arranged in the second face of the first substrate and are configured to compensate for thermal expansion or thermal contraction.

A method for preparing and/or carrying out the structuring of a predetermined or predeterminable distinguished surface of a substrate body having a substrate material includes exposing the substrate material in at least one curved effective area to an electromagnetic field which in each of the at least one curved effective area causes a non-linear interaction between the electromagnetic field and the substrate material, and thus at least partially influencing the substrate material arranged in the curved effective area. After the structuring of the distinguished surface the distinguished surface has at least in certain areas at least one first curved progression which is at least partially determined and/or influenced by the curved shape of the at least one curved effective area. The nonlinear interaction causes at least one nonlinear absorption of the electromagnetic field in the substrate material.

The present disclosure discloses a method and apparatus for manufacturing a microfluidic chip with a femtosecond plasma grating. The method is characterized in that two or more beams of femtosecond pulse laser act on quartz glass together at a certain included angle and converge in the quartz glass, and when pulses achieve synchronization in time domain, the two optical pulses interfere; Benefited by constraint of an interference field, only one optical filament is formed in one interference period; and numbers of optical filaments are arranged equidistantly in space to form the plasma grating. The apparatus for manufacturing the microfluidic chip includes a plasma grating optical path, a microchannel processing platform, and a hydrofluoric acid ultrasonic cell.

A method includes producing a semiconductor wafer. The semiconductor wafer includes a plurality of microelectromechanical system (MEMS) semiconductor chips, wherein the MEMS semiconductor chips have MEMS structures arranged at a first main surface of the semiconductor wafer, a first semiconductor material layer arranged at the first main surface, and a second semiconductor material layer arranged under the first semiconductor material layer, wherein a doping of the first semiconductor material layer is greater than a doping of the second semiconductor material layer. The method further includes removing the first semiconductor material layer in a region between adjacent MEMS semiconductor chips. The method further includes applying a stealth dicing process from the first main surface of the semiconductor wafer and between the adjacent MEMS semiconductor chips.

Techniques for fabricating a slanted structure are disclosed. In one embodiment, a method for fabricating a slanted structure on a material layer includes forming a mask layer on the material layer, and implanting ions into a plurality of regions of the material layer at a slant angle greater than zero using an ion beam and the mask layer. The slant angle is measured with respect to a surface normal of the material layer. Implanting the ions into the plurality of regions of the material layer changes a refractive index or an etch rate of the plurality of regions of the material layer. In some embodiments, the method further includes wet-etching the material layer using an etchant to remove materials in the plurality of regions of the material layer. In some embodiments, the method includes either simultaneous or post-implantation etching of modified material through a dry etching process using reactive etchants in feed gas.

A thin film structure (e.g., a near-field transducer), includes a first surface parallel to a substrate on which the thin film structure is deposited and two other surfaces orthogonal to the first surface. The first surface and the two other surfaces have respective first, second, and third selected plane orientations with respective first, second, and third atomic packing factors. The first, second, and third selected plane orientations are selected to maximize an average of the first, second, and third atomic packing factors.

A manufacturing method for a micromechanical window structure including the steps: providing a substrate, the substrate having a front side and a rear side; forming a first recess on the front side; forming a coating on the front side and on the first recess; and forming a second recess on the rear side, so that the coating is at least partially exposed, whereby a window is formed by the exposed area of the coatings.

The present invention relates to a molding die comprising a base portion and a pattern portion having recesses and protrusions provided on a surface of the base portion, wherein a distance between the centers of protruding portions of the pattern portion is 15 to 50 nm, a ratio of recessed and protruding portion (protrusion/distance between centers of the protruding portions) of the pattern portion is 0.5 or less, a height of the protruding portion of the pattern portion is 2 nm or more, and a defect density of the pattern portion is 10×10.sup.10 cm.sup.2 or less. The present invention also relates to a lens comprising a base portion and a pattern portion having recesses and protrusions provided on a surface of the base portion, wherein a distance between centers of protruding portions of the pattern portion is 15 to 50 nm.