What is a PDMS membrane?
A PDMS membrane refers to a polydimethylsiloxane thin film.
PDMS membranes are generally soft and transparent. Due to their chemical inertness and excellent mechanical properties, they are currently widely used in fields such as microfluidics, micro-sensors, flexible electronic devices, cell culture, and filtration.
Challenges in PDMS Membrane Processing?
Achieving high-quality micro-pores or cutting operations on PDMS membranes presents certain difficulties.
This is because: PDMS membranes are inherently soft, and mechanical processing or thermal stress can cause deformation, melted edges, or curled edges in the material.
Additionally, PDMS has a certain degree of elasticity, and mechanical processing or conventional laser processing may result in dimensional shrinkage or expansion, making it difficult to ensure high precision and consistency.
Especially when dealing with micro-holes below 10-50 μm or carbon-free cutting, the processing difficulty of PDMS membranes becomes even greater.
How to address the challenges of micro/nano processing of PDMS membranes?
Femtosecond lasers, as a non-contact "cold processing" method, offer significant advantages in PDMS membrane processing and are highly recommended.
(1) Minimal thermal impact, avoiding melted edges and deformation: Femtosecond lasers have extremely short pulse widths, typically ranging from tens to hundreds of femtoseconds. The ultra-short pulse duration results in a very small thermal impact zone during processing, thereby preventing thermal damage and deformation of the PDMS membrane, maintaining its surface quality and mechanical properties.
(2) High processing precision, enabling micro-scale processing: Femtosecond lasers have extremely high spatial resolution and fine processing capabilities, enabling micro-scale processing on PDMS membranes, such as micro-holes, blind holes, and micro-channels. For example, when processing 6μm micro-holes, consistency can be ensured with hole diameter precision controlled within ±1μm.
(3) Non-contact processing, avoiding stress-induced contraction or expansion: Femtosecond lasers use non-contact processing without mechanical stress, eliminating the risk of external force-induced deformation or stress.
