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Ultrasonic vibration technology for the polymer replication of high aspect ratio micro-structured surface

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Abstract

It is still a challenge to achieve the polymer replication of high aspect ratio micro-structured surface especially when the completed and unified replication quality is required. This paper shows a new method for the replication named ultrasonic vibration micro-injection mold (μUVIM) technology which combines the micro-injection mold (μIM) with ultrasonic vibration. An experimental mold that integrates micro-injection compression mold (μICM) and μUVIM has been designed. In this paper, the effect of important process parameters on the replication quality of microstructure was studied via μUVIM experiment, and the process parameters were optimized through the response surface method (RSM). Compared with replication methods based on μICM technology, the μUVIM technology discussed in this paper can increase the average height of the microstructure by 14.6% and increase the production efficiency by three times. Moreover, it has been found that the μUVIM technology is insensitive to the thickness of the polymer substrate, so it can widen the processing scope of microstructure with high aspect ratio.

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Acknowledgements

This research is supported by Science and Technology Planning Project of Guangdong Province under Grant nos. 2015B090921007 and 2015B010919001.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Provincial Key Laboratory of Micro-nano Manufacturing, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangdong, China

    Junhui Liu, Xindu Chen & Shipu Diao

Authors
  1. Junhui Liu
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  2. Xindu Chen
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  3. Shipu Diao
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xindu Chen.

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Liu, J., Chen, X. & Diao, S. Ultrasonic vibration technology for the polymer replication of high aspect ratio micro-structured surface. Microsyst Technol 24, 2253–2264 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00542-017-3632-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00542-017-3632-1

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