Fabrication of Microchannels Using Polynorbornene Photosensitive Sacrificial Materials

A processing method has been demonstrated for the fabrication of microchannels using photosensitive polynorbornene copolymer based sacrificial materials. The channel geometric patterns of sacrificial polymer were made via photolithography. The sacrificial polymer patterns were encapsulated with a dielectric medium and then thermally decomposed to form air channels. For the thermal decomposition of sacrificial polymer, the heating program was determined on the basis of the kinetic model obtained from thermogravimetric analysis to maintain the decomposition at a constant rate. The results indicate that a properly selected heating program can avoid the deformation in the channel structure; at the same conditions, a large-size channel is more easily deformed than a small one. The tapered-structure microchannels were also produced using a gray-scale mask. The result shows that a suitably low contrast for the photosensitive sacrificial material can lead to smooth and tapered microchannels.