Methods and apparatus for manufacturing a microfluidic arrangement, and a microfluidic arrangement

A method of manufacturing a microfluidic arrangement, comprising:

• providing a continuous body of a first liquid in direct contact with a first substrate;
• providing a second liquid in direct contact with the continuous body of first liquid and covering the continuous body of first liquid, the second liquid being immiscible with the first liquid;
• and
• propelling a separation fluid, immiscible with the first liquid and miscible with the second liquid, through at least the first liquid and into contact with the first substrate along all of a selected path on the surface of the first substrate, thereby displacing first liquid that was initially in contact with all of the selected path away from the selected path without any solid member contacting the selected path directly and without any solid member contacting the selected path via a globule of liquid held at a tip of any solid member, the selected path being such that the continuous body of the first liquid is divided to form a single sub-body of first liquid separated from the rest of the continuous body of first liquid by the second liquid or a plurality of sub-bodies of first liquid separated from each other by the second liquid, wherein:
• for each of the one or more sub-bodies, a sub-body footprint represents an area of contact between the sub-body and the first substrate, and all of a boundary of the sub-body footprint is in contact with a closed loop of the selected path surrounding the sub-body footprint;
• and
• the first liquid, second liquid and first substrate are configured such that each boundary of a sub-body footprint that is all in contact with a closed loop of the selected path is pinned in a static configuration by interfacial forces, with the first liquid and the second liquid remaining in liquid form.