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SU-8 Masters & Priced PDMS Chip Fabrication

Soft-lithography fabrication broken into the two numbers every quote contains, one-time tooling and per-part cost, using the handful of fabricators that publish a rate card.

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WW-DV-22185SHEET 1/1
CategoryCulture Devices & Custom Microfabrication
UnitOne SU-8 master mould, or one NRE package plus a per-chip production price
Lead time10-18 days for an SU-8 master (Blue BioDevice: 10-14 days domestic, 14-18 days international); about 2 weeks for 100 chips at uFluidix; academic cleanroom slots vary with tool availability
PricingPublished list price
ProvenanceCustom RFQ
Data current2026-09-03

Description

A custom PDMS device quote always decomposes into non-recurring engineering and per-part cost, and buyers routinely optimise the wrong one: at n=1 the NRE is 95 percent of the bill and the per-part price is irrelevant; at n=1,000 the NRE has vanished and the per-part price is everything. This offering exists because a small number of fabricators publish rate cards, which makes the arithmetic checkable before anyone opens a sales conversation. Three structural facts fall out of the published data. First, soft lithography does not scale, per-part cost falls 95 percent between one and a hundred parts and then essentially stops, moving only from $95 to $81.50 between 100 and 1,000, because every chip is an individual casting operation. Second, the master mould is cheap and casting from it is not: the excluded costs are labour, and at the same facility's published $55 per hour staff rate an hour and a half of hands-on time per batch dominates mould amortisation at every tier above n=10. Third, iteration count is the largest hidden cost in any custom programme, because every design revision means a new master at $790 to $3,295. What actually drives a quote up is published too: Penn QNF prices a single-layer master at $1,060 and a two-layer at $3,295, a 3.1x multiplier for one alignment step; Blue BioDevice tiers on channel height alone from $790 at 5 um to $1,150 at 300 um; both cap aspect ratio at roughly 1:4 as standard. The single most commonly omitted RFQ line is whether the master is delivered to you or retained by the fabricator, because that determines whether your second order is a per-part order or a full NRE again.

Why this is hard to buy today

Two quotes that look similar at n=100 diverge completely on the second order because one fabricator sells you the master and the other retains it, a contractual term, not a price, and it is the single most commonly omitted line in a fabrication RFQ, so buyers pay a full NRE twice without realising it was avoidable.

Price evidence

Published fabricator rate cards captured 2026-09-01. HiComp: custom single-layer PDMS microfluidics, Rapid Professional Setup Package, $1,500 one-time NRE plus $80 per chip, with a chrome 5-inch photomask for a 4-inch wafer at $500; quote within 24-48 hours. uFluidix: typical single-layer device at $60 per chip at 100 chips, about 2 weeks, NRE not separately stated. Blue BioDevice SU-8 master moulds by channel height, price including international shipping, duties and VAT: $790 at 5 um and above, $890 at 60 um and above, $990 at 150 um and above, $1,150 at 300 um and above. Penn QNF (Singh Center for Nanotechnology) academic rates: single-layer SU-8 master $1,060, two-layer $3,295, staff support and design assistance $55 per hour; standard process covers feature widths above 20 um within +/-10 percent and heights to 100 um within +/-20 percent. Protolabs injection moulding with aluminium tooling from $1,495, per-part quoted per geometry. AMORTISATION IS ARITHMETIC ON THOSE FIGURES, NOT A QUOTE: on HiComp's structure, $1,580 at n=1, $2,300 at n=10 ($230.00 each), $9,500 at n=100 ($95.00 each), $81,500 at n=1,000 ($81.50 each). The off-the-shelf comparator that every custom quote must beat: eNUVIO OMEGA-4 and OMEGA-ACE $285.00 per 4 devices / 8 experiments ($35.63 per experiment), OMEGA-ACE-4mm and OMEGA-AG $425.00, OMEGA-MP $440.00 per 4 devices / 8 experiments ($55.00 per experiment), live store API 2026-09-01.

These are supplier list prices we located and recorded, not a quotation from Wetware World. Your price depends on quantity, specification and freight, and is only binding once issued in writing.

What you must specify

A quote cannot be produced without these. Anything you leave open, a supplier will assume, usually expensively.

#Parameter
01File format, ideally GDS, DXF-to-GDS conversion is billable at the academic cleanroom rate
02Minimum feature width and the tolerance genuinely needed, distinguished from the tolerance preferred
03Channel height and tolerance, since height drives the master price tier directly
04Number of layers, and whether inter-layer alignment is required
05Aspect ratio, against a standard cap of roughly 1:4 width to height
06Material: PDMS, thermoplastic or glass, this changes the method, not just the price
07Substrate and bonding requirement: bonded to glass, to another PDMS layer, or supplied unbonded
08Surface treatment or coating requirement
09Sterilisation method the finished device must survive
10Quantity now and realistic quantity within twelve months, quoted at both
11Whether the master mould is delivered to the buyer or retained by the fabricator

Quality documentation

Typically available with this item. What actually ships is confirmed on the quotation, per supplier.

  • Dimensional inspection against the agreed drawing
  • Stated feature-width and height tolerance for the fabricator's standard process
  • First-article inspection before batch release
  • Where the master is retained, a written statement of what a repeat order costs

Candidate suppliers

Organisations we have identified as capable. Listing does not imply a partnership, an endorsement, or that they have agreed to quote.

OrganisationBasis for inclusion
HiComp Publishes a rate card for custom single-layer PDMS microfluidics: $1,500 one-time setup plus $80 per chip, and a chrome 5-inch photomask at $500. Captured 2026-09-01.
Blue BioDevice Publishes SU-8 master mould pricing tiered by channel height ($790 / $890 / $990 / $1,150), inclusive of international shipping, duties and VAT, with 14-18 day international and 10-14 day domestic lead times. Sells the master to the customer, so the buyer owns the tooling. Captured 2026-09-01.
uFluidix Publishes a pricing example of $60 per chip at 100 chips for a typical single-layer device with a stated 2-week turnaround. Captured 2026-09-01.
Penn QNF, Singh Center for Nanotechnology Publishes academic rates: single-layer SU-8 master $1,060, two-layer $3,295, staff support $55/hour, with stated standard-process tolerances and a charge for changes after fabrication begins. Captured 2026-09-01.
eNUVIO (custom microfabrication) Advertises design, rapid prototyping and cleanroom production of custom PDMS devices from a few units to large batches, with features in the 1 um range, high-aspect-ratio moulding, glass bonding and surface modification. Quote only; its own off-the-shelf OMEGA devices carry live public prices.

Sources

  1. https://www.hicomp.us/pdms
  2. https://www.bluebiodevice.com/index.php/pdms-microfluidic-molding-service/
  3. https://www.ufluidix.com/pricing/
  4. https://wiki.nano.upenn.edu/wiki/index.php?title=QNF_Soft_Litho_Fabrication_Service
  5. https://www.protolabs.com/help-center/pricing-and-payment-options
  6. https://enuvio.com/shop/3d-skeletal-muscle-device-omega-mp

doc WW-DV-22185 · rev 2026-09-03 · research use only · prices indicative and not binding until quoted in writing