Elastomer mask for powder blasting microfabrication

We report the use of poly(dimethylsiloxane) and flexopolymer as masking materials for the three-dimensional micro-structuring of glass using powder blasting technology. Such elastomer masks provide a promising alternative to metallic contact masks for the definition of microstructures. A mask thickness up to 100 μm with feature size down to 15 μm is obtained. These elastomer masks show an excellent erosion resistance to powder blasting and a selectivity of up to 5000 with respect to brittle materials like glass and PZT materials.