Issue

Vol. 14 (2022)

Fabrication of High-Density Out-of-Plane Microneedle Arrays with Various Heights and Diverse Cross-Sectional Shapes

https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-021-00778-1
Hyeonhee Roh
Brain Science Institute, Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Seoul 02792, South Korea
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6559-0177
Young Jun Yoon
Brain Science Institute, Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Seoul 02792, South Korea
Jin Soo Park
Brain Science Institute, Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Seoul 02792, South Korea
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8218-0946
Dong‑Hyun Kang
Micro/Nano Fabrication Center, KIST, Seoul 02792, South Korea
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8570-1145
Seung Min Kwak
Micro/Nano Fabrication Center, KIST, Seoul 02792, South Korea
Byung Chul Lee
Brain Science Institute, Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Seoul 02792, South Korea
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7702-716X
Maesoon Im
Brain Science Institute, Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Seoul 02792, South Korea
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1152-4398

Corresponding Author: Maesoon Im

maesoon.im@kist.re.kr

Nano-Micro Letters, Vol. 14 (2022), Article Number: 24

Abstract

Out-of-plane microneedle structures are widely used in various applications such as transcutaneous drug delivery and neural signal recording for brain machine interface. This work presents a novel but simple method to fabricate high-density silicon (Si) microneedle arrays with various heights and diverse cross-sectional shapes depending on photomask pattern designs. The proposed fabrication method is composed of a single photolithography and two subsequent deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) steps. First, a photoresist layer was patterned on a Si substrate to define areas to be etched, which will eventually determine the final location and shape of each individual microneedle. Then, the 1st DRIE step created deep trenches with a highly anisotropic etching of the Si substrate. Subsequently, the photoresist was removed for more isotropic etching; the 2nd DRIE isolated and sharpened microneedles from the predefined trench structures. Depending on diverse photomask designs, the 2nd DRIE formed arrays of microneedles that have various height distributions, as well as diverse cross-sectional shapes across the substrate. With these simple steps, high-aspect ratio microneedles were created in the high density of up to 625 microneedles mm−2 on a Si wafer. Insertion tests showed a small force as low as ~ 172 µN/microneedle is required for microneedle arrays to penetrate the dura mater of a mouse brain. To demonstrate a feasibility of drug delivery application, we also implemented silk microneedle arrays using molding processes. The fabrication method of the present study is expected to be broadly applicable to create microneedle structures for drug delivery, neuroprosthetic devices, and so on.


Highlights:


1 High-density out-of-plane microneedle arrays were fabricated with a single photolithography and two deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) steps in anisotropic and isotropic modes, respectively.
2 Microneedles in various heights were monolithically created by the identical DRIE processes and scanning electron microscopy images showed extremely sharp sub-micron (~145-nm-wide) tip.
3 Diverse cross-sectional shapes of microneedles were implemented by altering photomask patterns.

Keywords

Microneedle Various heights Cross-sectional shapes Isotropic etch Deep reactive ion etching
Roh, Hyeonhee, Young Jun Yoon, Jin Soo Park, Dong‑Hyun Kang, Seung Min Kwak, Byung Chul Lee, and Maesoon Im. 2021. “Fabrication of High-Density Out-of-Plane Microneedle Arrays With Various Heights and Diverse Cross-Sectional Shapes”. Nano-Micro Letters 14 (December):24. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-021-00778-1.
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