Improvement of the UV curing process for the laser lithography technique

Abstract

Laser lithography (LL) is a new manufacturing technique for producing three-dimensional engineering prototypes. The characteristics of photo-polymerization for the rapid prototyping process have been studied using Sony's Solid Creation System. In order to understand and control the fabrication process, both experiments and simulations were carried out to examine the fundamental relationships of some of the key parameters. The relationships can be used to predict the cured line depth and width for a given laser exposure. A mathematical model was established to predict the cured profile for a single layer based on the derived relationships. Diagnostic tests have also been performed to ascertain the performance of the apparatus and the effective implementation of the operating parameters. The parameters proposed are shown to be less susceptible to post-cure distortion. The results from the study indicate that the distortion during part creation and post-curing can be reduced by adopting a proper set of parameters on the LL machine. © 1995.