Pulsed laser ablation of polymers for display applications

Pedder, J.E.A., A.S. Holmes, and H.J. Booth, Pulsed laser ablation of polymers for display applications - art. no. 68790S. Photon Processing in Microelectronics and Photonics Vii, 2008. 6879: p. S8790-S8790.

Abstract

Laser micromachining by ablation is a well established technique used for the production of 2.5D and 3D features in a wide variety of materials. The fabrication of stepped, multi-level, structures can be achieved using a number of binary mask projection techniques using excimer lasers. Alternatively, direct-writing of complex 2.5D features can easily be achieved with solid-state lasers. Excimer laser ablation using half-tone masks allows almost continuous surface relief and the generation of features with low surface roughness. We have developed techniques to create large arrays of repeating micro-optical structures on polymer substrates. Here, we show our recent developments in laser structuring with the combination of half-tone and binary mask techniques.