Direct-write fabrication process (DWFP) is a robotic deposition technique used to produce planar or three-dimensional (3D) microscale structures. These structures consist of paste-like filaments which are extruded through a micronozzle and deposited on a substrate [1]. These filaments are encapsulated inside an epoxy resin and then melted and removed by applying a moderate temperature for the creation of microfluidic components (e.g., microchannels, reservoirs). Following our previous reports [2–3] on the fabrication of microchannels by DWFP and high precision CMOS capacitive sensors [4], we present in this paper a microfluidic packaging procedure to realize microchannel and fluidic connections on top of CMOS chip. The compatibility of this fluidic packaging procedure with conventional electrical packaging techniques (e.g. wire bonding) is an important advantage of DWFP for CMOS based Laboratory-On-Chip applications. The fabrication challenges are discussed in the experimental section.
