Microfabrication and micromachining are terms that describe the technologies and processes used in making microscopic structures or devices. These structures can range in size from the width of a human hair down to smaller than a single human cell. The ability to build devices this small has spurred technological advancements in computers, consumer electronics, green energy technology and many other fields. Microfabrication techniques vary widely depending on the device being built. Microfabrication is combination of processes and/or techniques that are used to construct physical objects with in general sizes ranging from hundreds of microns to nanometers. This technology specially developed to established semiconductor fabrication processes, and making integrated circuits. Now over the past two decades, it has been used for the fabrication of tools that have applications in medicine, biomedical engineering and biology. In native physiological environment, cells constantly encounter and respond to a multitude of signals, like growth factor, cytokine stimulation, cell signaling, extracellular matrix interaction including physical inputs such as stiffness, topography and shear stress. A key challenge in cell biology is the design of experimental methods and specific assays to disentangle the contribution of these cell-governing parameters. Conventional cell culture supports, such as tissue culture flasks and Petri dishes, represent just a trivial approximation of the complex microenvironment that cells reside in. Recent technological developments in material science and microfabrication allow to better mimic this complexity and control over a wider range of environmental parameters. The most important and researched topics in this segment include doping, bonding, thin films, etching, and microlithography.
List of top Microfabrication Journals: Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering, AIP Biomicrofluidics, Electrophoresis (Wiley), Microfluidics and Nanofluidics (Springer), Lab on a Chip (Royal Society of Chemistry), Journal of Lightwave Technology, The Journal of Nanophotonics (JNP) , IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics, Naturephotonics, Optical Materials Express (OSA), Journal of Micro Manufacturing (SAGE),