Sub-µm structured lotus surfaces manufacturing

Sub-micro structured surfaces allow modifying the behavior of polymer films or components. Especially in micro fluidics a lotus-like characteristic is requested for many applications. Structure details with a high aspect ratio are necessary to decouple the bottom and the top of the functional layer. Unlike to stochastic methods, patterning with a LIGA-mold insert it is possible to structure surfaces very uniformly or even with controlled variations (e.g. with gradients). In this paper we present the process chain to realize polymer sub-micro structures with minimum lateral feature size of 400 nm and up to 4 μm high