Abstract
In this paper an efficient micromachining of poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) by direct photo-etching with a laser-plasma EUV (extreme ultraviolet) source was demonstrated for the first time. Mass spectroscopy was employed to investigate the ablation products and revealed emission of numerous molecular species of C-containing fragments of the polymer chain. Chemical surface changes after irradiation were investigated using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The XPS spectra obtained for PVDF samples, irradiated with low and high EUV fluence, indicate significant differences between chemical structures in near-surface layers. It was shown that irradiation with low fluence results in defluorination and thus carbon enrichment of the polymer in near-surface layer. In contrary, irradiation with high fluence leads to intense material ablation and hardly modifies the chemical structure of the remaining material.
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