Fabricating SU-8 Photoresist Microstructures with Controlled Convexity-Concavity and Curvature through Thermally Manipulating Capillary Action in Poly(dimethylsiloxane) Microholes.

We present a simple, robust, and cheap microfabrication method, based on thermally manipulating capillary action in poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) microholes, for preparing SU-8 curved microstructures. The microstructure morphology including convexity-concavity and curvature can be controlled via tuning the formation temperature. The convex SU-8 microspherical crowns with a height of 40 µm were formed at 10 °C, whereas the concave SU-8 microspherical crowns with a height of 90 µm were formed at 100 °C. The morphology of the microstructures is dictated by the thermally controlled combination of the pressure difference across the interface, contact angle, and surface tension. The fabricated microstructures with a spherical surface can be used as a microlens array or a mold for producing a microlens array. The clear and uniform images were observed using the generated microlens arrays. The equilibrium morphology of the microstructures can be predicted by numerical simulation, which can lessen the number of experiments and thus the design cost. The proposed method has the potential to find applications in industrial fields.

Curved Film Microstructure Arrays Fabricated via Mechanical Stretching.

We report on curved film microstructure arrays fabricated through polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) film buckling induced by mechanical stretching. In the process of the microstructure preparation, a PDMA film is glued on a bidirectionally prestretched PDMS sheet that has a square distributed hole array on its surface. After releasing the prestrain, the film microstructure array is created spontaneously. The fabricated microstructures possess a spherical surface and demonstrate very good uniformity. The film microstructure arrays can serve as microlens arrays with a focal length of 1010 µm. The microstructure formation mechanism is investigated via theoretical analysis and numerical simulation. The simulation results agree well with the experimental results. The prestrain applied by mechanical stretching during the fabrication has an important effect on the shape of the resulting film microstructures. The microstructure geometry can be easily tuned through controlling the applied prestrain.

Origin of Magnetically Induced Optical Transmission of Magnetic Nanocomposite Films.

Herein, we present an investigation on the origin of the magnetically induced optical transmission of composite films comprised of polydimethylsiloxane and magnetic nanofillers via experiment and simulation. Structured and unstructured films were used in the study, which were fabricated with and without magnetic fields, respectively. Altered optical transmittance was observed from both types of films when they were subjected to an external magnetic field. Numerical analyses were performed to investigate the effect of the particle movement under magnetic field and the film magnetostriction on the film optical transmittance. The simulation results show that the changed light transmission under magnetic field is mainly due to a variation in the film thickness resulting from the film magnetostriction. The ellipsometric analysis results confirm the altered film thickness in response to the external magnetic field, and the measurements of the film magnetostrictive stresses validate that there is magnetostriction in the magnetic composite films. Additionally, it is indicated that there might be some relationship between the magnetically induced optical transmission and the film magnetostrictive stress under certain conditions.