Investigation of thermoplastic hot embossing process using soft polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) micromold

A hot embossing process using a soft polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) micromold was experimentally investigated. Although the PDMS micromold shows several advantages, including short fabrication time, high flexibility, and easy modification of surface properties, a mold deformation during the embossing process is inevitable because of its low Young's modulus. In this regard, hot embossing experiments were systematically carried out to investigate the effect of major processing parameters on the soft micromold deformation. By measuring characteristic geometrical dimensions of the replicated microfeatures from the deformed microcavity, the deformation behavior of the soft micromold was analyzed.