A replication process of metallic micro-mold by using parylene embossing and electroplating

This study demonstrated a replication process for metallic micro-mold that combines the parylene-C (poly-chloro-p-xylylene C) hot-embossing and electroplating techniques. A nickel original master was fabricated using the deep RIE silicon etching followed by the electroplating process. Then, the patterned fields composed of arrays of 25 μm-high, 10 μm-wide and 1 mm-long lines with 10 μm spacing in nickel molds were successfully replicated on the 60 μm-thick parylene-C films by the hot-emboss process. Under complete filling conditions, the deviation of the replicated micropattern was less than 2.4%. The electroplated copper successfully filled parylene-C replica master patterns with the aspect ratio of 2.5 without the void formation by both adding organic addictives and controlling the seed layer thickness. After electroplating, the copper micro-mold could be successfully separated from the parylene-C replica master.