Abstract:
A novel system for 3D microchannel fabrication based on CO/sub 2/ laser-micromachining is presented. The system consists of a CO/sub 2/ laser focusing system and a 3D pre...Show MoreMetadata
Abstract:
A novel system for 3D microchannel fabrication based on CO/sub 2/ laser-micromachining is presented. The system consists of a CO/sub 2/ laser focusing system and a 3D precision positioning platform. The CO/sub 2/ laser focusing system can regulate a laser beam which is of appropriate energy level and of micron dimension in beam diameter. The fabrication of 3D microchannel system in PMMA (polymethyl methacrylate) can be realized by controlling the CO/sub 2/ laser and a 3-axis platform with micron-resolution movement. A special 'sacrificial mask' process was used to produce translucent channels of micron dimensions with low surface roughness using the developed system. The effectiveness of our developed system is confirmed by experimental results. Potentially, our developed system can be automated to produce 3D micro channels in PMMA substrates without the requirement for the costly and time-consuming lithography and hot-embossing processes that are needed currently.
Published in: IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, 2004. Proceedings. ICRA '04. 2004
Date of Conference: 26 April 2004 - 01 May 2004
Date Added to IEEE Xplore: 06 July 2004
Print ISBN:0-7803-8232-3
Print ISSN: 1050-4729