Excimer based laser ablation of micro-fluidic circuits for micro-total analysis systems (μTAS) is an alternative to more expensive techniques of LIGA or micro-moulding. In the interests of developing a rapid prototyping method for direct writing of micro-fluidic circuits in polymer materials the ablation process was characterised using Design of Experiment techniques and a robust full factorial model was developed. Input factors of pulse energy, repetition rate, scan speed and number of passes were considered. Output responses of trench bottom width, sidewall angle, trench depth and trench roughness were measured. From this a prediction equation was created to forecast the output responses prior to machining and to allow the development of a process prior to machining. The accuracy of the prediction equation is discussed for four materials; Polystyrene, Polycarbonate, Non-CQ grade PMMA and CQ grade PMMA. For the four materials studied the response of Polystyrene and Polycarbonate were similar while the two grades of PMMA behave differently.
UV and VUV laser ablation of micro-fluidic circuits for micro-total analysis systems (μTAS) is an alternative to more expensive techniques of LIGA or micro-moulding. The machining of trenches in PS, PC, PMMA (CQ grade and non-CQ grade) was investigated using two Q-switched solid state lasers, one operating at 266nm (fourth harmonic) and another at 355nm (third harmonic). These results were compared with results achieved using a 193nm Excimer laser. The structuring of the channels depends on both the laser wavelength and the target material. A comparison of the process will be presented with respect to the structure quality and efficiency of the process.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.