Cell patterning commonly employs photolithographic methods for the micro fabrication of structures on
silicon chips. These require expensive photo-mask development and complex photolithographic processing.
Laser based patterning of cells has been studied in vitro and
laser ablation of
polymers is an active area of research promising high aspect ratios. This paper disseminates how 800 nm femtosecond infrared (IR)
laser radiation can be successfully used to perform
laser ablative micromachining of
parylene-C on SiO2 substrates for the patterning of human hNT astrocytes (derived from the human
teratocarcinoma cell line (hNT)) whilst 248 nm nanosecond ultra-violet
laser radiation produces photo-oxidization of the
parylene-C and destroys cell patterning. In this work, we report the
laser ablation methods used and the ablation characteristics of
parylene-C for IR pulse fluences. Results follow that support the validity of using IR
laser ablative micromachining for patterning human hNT astrocytes cells. We disseminate the variation in yield of patterned hNT astrocytes on
parylene-C with
laser pulse spacing, pulse number, pulse fluence and
parylene-C strip width. The findings demonstrate how
laser ablative micromachining of
parylene-C on SiO2 substrates can offer an accessible alternative for rapid prototyping, high yield cell patterning with broad application to multi-
electrode arrays, cellular micro-arrays and microfluidics.