ultrasonic hot embossing超声波热压花.pdfVIP

Micromachines 2011, 2, 157-166; doi:10.3390/mi2020157 OPEN ACCESS micromachines ISSN 2072-666X /journal/micromachines Article Ultrasonic Hot Embossing Werner Karl Schomburg *, Katharina Burlage and Christof Gerhardy RWTH Aachen University, Konstruktion und Entwicklung von Mikrosystemen (KEmikro), Steinbachstraße 53 B, 52074 Aachen, Germany; E-Mails: Burlage@KEmikro.RWTH-Aachen.de (K.B.); Gerhardy@KEmikro.RWTH-Aachen.de (C.G.) * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; Tel.: +49-241-80-28441; Fax: +49-241-80-22440; E-Mail: Schomburg@KEmikro.RWTH-Aachen.de. Received: 31 March 2011; in revised form: 3 May 2011 / Accepted: 9 May 2011 / Published: 11 May 2011 Abstract: Ultrasonic hot embossing is a new process for fast and low-cost production of micro systems from polymer. Investment costs are on the order of 20.000 € and cycle times are a few seconds. Microstructures are fabricated on polymer foils and can be combined to three-dimensional systems by ultrasonic welding. Keywords: ultrasound; hot embossing; polymer; micro system; ultrasonic hot embossing 1. Introduction The main reason why micro products from thermoplastic polymers are interesting as soon as a micro system goes into industrial applications is that fabrication costs are much less than for alternative processes. A molten thermoplastic polymer comparatively easily adapts to the surface of a mold and keeps its form after cooling down. The cost of this type of process is nearly no function of the complexity of the micro structures