Flexible Micro-Structured Mold for UV Micro-Casting of Polymeric Microdevices

Abstract

UV micro-casting is a promising mass production method for replication of polymeric microdevices due to the non-stringent process conditions and fast curing time. This paper describes a potential method to mass produce polymeric microdevices. The first generation mold for UV micro-casting was fabricated by using chemically micro-etched copper clad laminate (CCL) base substrate. Subsequently a two part silicone rubber was cast over the CCL micro-feature mold. Photosensitive resin was dispensed onto the silicone rubber mold and a transparent Mylar thin film was placed on top of the UV curable prepolymer. After the silicone rubber mold-resin-Mylar assembly was UV irradiated for tens of seconds, the crosslinked polymer, together with the Mylar film was peeled off from the mold. The cross-linked polymer was placed on top of a second layer of Mylar film dispensed with the similar UV curable resin. In this way, a complete polymeric micro device could be efficiently produced.