Study of Hot Embossing Behavior and Comparison at Normalized Temperatures of PolyCarbonate , PolyMethylMethAcrylate and Poly L-Lactic Acid

Hot embossing microreplication microfabrication (HEMM) process is one of the methods used for the fabrication of polymer based microdevices. The molds used for hot embossing have been fabricated using a Femtosecond Laser Microfabrication (FLM) system. Embossing experiments are performed on three polymers; Poly Carbonate (PC), PolyMethylMethAcrylate (PMMA), and Poly L-Lactic Acid (PLLA). These polymers have different glass transition and melting temperatures leading to different embossing process parameters. Normalization of embossing temperatures is performed to assess the HEMM process performance as a function of a normalized quantity that considers the glass transition, melting and embossing temperatures of a polymer. The performance comparison is based on evaluating the flow rate or measuring the height of an embossed feature for a given applied embossing pressure and holding time.Copyright © 2006 by ASME