Combination of different processing methods for the fabrication of 3D polymer structures by excimer laser machining

New processing strategies for the fabrication of three-dimensional 3D.topographies with complex design, e.g., described by mathematical functions of the type zsxy, are presented. For the fabrication of such topographies we used either a combination of gray scale and contour mask techniques or an improved contour mask technique consisting of two diagonal-scanning contour masks moving behind an extra aperture mask. Details of the experimental procedure and the technical requirements are discussed and examples of machined surfaces are presented. q2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved