Selective laser etching of high aspect ratio 3D glass microstructures

Abstract

3D structures made out of glass can be used in various fields starting from optical components or microfluidic devices to micromechanics. Selective laser etching (SLE) is a unique technology that allows the production of low surface roughness (around 200 nm RMS) and a high aspect ratio (around 1000) 3D structures. However, some advanced applications as biomedical microfluidics and optical devices require to increase these aspects. In this work, we present SLE technological improvements towards better surface roughness and higher aspect ratio structures. Chemical etching process improvements enable to increase selectivity up to 3000 which ameliorates the accuracy and possible aspect ratio of the structures.