Low-pressure plasma-etching of bulk polymer materials using gas mixture of CF4 and O2

In this study, we have proposed a low-pressure reactive ion etching of bulk polymer materials with a gas mixture of CF4 and O-2, and have achieved precise fabrication of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and perfluoroalkoxy (PFA) bulk polymer plates with high-aspect-ratio and narrow gap array structures, such as, pillar, frustum, or cone, on a nano/micro scale. The effects of the etching conditions on the shape and size of each pillar were evaluated by changing etching duration and the size/material of etching mask. The fabricated PMMA array structures indicate possibilities of optical waveguide and nanofiber array. PFA cone array structures showed super-hydrophobicity without any chemical treatments. Also, polystyrene-coated silica spheres were used as an etching mask for the pillar array structure formation to control the gap between pillars. (c) 2013 Author(s). All article content, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.