The commercialization of microfabricated devices requires an efficient, high yield manufacturing process. This paper demonstrates that the extension of scanning projection lithography into the manufacture of microscale devices presents an opportunity to develop cost effective processes. The use of thick dry film resists is a well characterized process. The technology associated with lamination and development is fully commercialized, and the process requirements for exposure allow great operational flexibility. Examples of the use of this technology to form microscale typical of MEMS devices are presented for a resists thickness of 30 micrometers . Microphotographs of the resulting features are presented, and the achievable resolutions and wall angles are quantified. An analysis of process economics for using thick film resists to generate MEMS feature at a commercially viable scale is presented. The factors influencing throughput are discussed, and the potential advantage of using a scanning projection tool with these resists is presented.
Excimer laser ablation of polymeric materials is a widely used technology for the generation of nozzles and through- holes. Ablation is also a viable process to create more complex fluidic structures such as channels and manifolds. This paper presents recent results of experiments demonstrating the creation of manifolds in 25 micrometers polyimide films. These structures include cross-over points, and channels of various widths. The results presented include photomicrographs and SEMS, and characterization of channel wall taper and width control as well as an assessment of ablation depth uniformity over large fields. The characteristics of projection ablation systems are reviewed, and the experimental system is described in detail.
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