Microfabrication of Poly(tetrafluoroethylene) Using SR Direct Etching

Abstract

Poly-tetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is very attractive material for various fields, because of its chemical resistance, heat resistance, inslation property and hydrophobic property, etc. However, it is difficult to fabricate PTFE microstructures with conventional techniques such as semiconductor process or micro machining. We had succeed in the fabrication of high-aspect-ratio micro fluidics parts of PTFE by direct in-vacuum photo-etching using synchrotron radiation (SR) with energy from 2 to 12keV. This paper reports analyzed mechanisme of PTFE microfabrication process and discovered new processing characteristic of PTFE.