Optical Etching to Pattern Microstructures on Plastics by Vacuum Ultraviolet Light

We proposed and demonstrated an optical dry etching method for transferring a pattern on a photomask to a surface of plastics by decomposing the irradiated area using the high energy of vacuum ultraviolet light (VUV) at room temperature and pressure. Two kinds of wavelengths of 160 nm and 172 nm were used as the vacuum ultraviolet light, and the patterning performances for polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) and polycarbonate (PC) were compared. As a result, it was revealed that proportional relationships were obtained between the etching rate and the irradiation dose for both wavelengths, and the cross-sectional profiles were anisotropic. In addition, both PMMA and PC were etched at a wavelength of 160 nm, whereas PC could not be etched at a wavelength of 172 nm, suggesting that it correlates with the bond dissociation energies of the molecular bonds of the materials and the energies of the photons. Furthermore, by combining this method with the optical bonding method that we had previously developed to bond surfaces irradiated with VUV, we have demonstrated a method for fabricating microfluidic devices by irradiating only with VUV. This paper shows that this technique is a new microfabrication method suitable for simple and mass production of plastic materials.