抄録
Laser etching is a promising technique for the creation of high-resolution patterns on polymer surfaces by a non-contact mode. In the case of near-IR (NIR) laser patterning, however, it has been believed that laser etching mostly results in substantially disordered profiles due to thermal effects. In this article, we tried to show how clear-cut etching patterns can be obtained upon NIR laser irradiation. One example of creating clear-cut etched surface was achieved upon polystyrene films. In the system, it is considered that a mechanical fracture is a main mechanism of laser etching, not a fragmentation (thermal degradation) process. On the other hand, some polyimide films also gave clear-cut images, even if the films were fragmented. It is concluded that the thermo-mechanical properties of polymer materials play an important role for determining the quality of NIR laser etched surfaces.
