Effect of hot embossing process parameters on polymer flow and microchannel accuracy produced without vacuum

To investigate the basic mechanism of hot embossing, a series of experiments were conducted by using male die with micro-features. With online and outline methods, the polymer flow behavior during microembossing was observed. A hot embossing method without vacuum to achieve high replication accuracy was presented. Orthogonal experiment was used to establish the relationship between hot embossing conditions and replication accuracy. The results of the present work implied that during hot embossing cycle, the increasing temperature and pressure stage will determine the replication accuracy of microchannel in depth, and the replication accuracy of width and shape was determined by maintaining temperature and pressure stage. The replication accuracy depends strongly on the processing conditions. By using new hot embossing method, the replication accuracy has reached about 99%.