fs- and ns-laser processing of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) elastomer: Comparative study

•fs- and ns-laser (266 and 532nm) processing of PDMS-elastomer, in air, is studied.•High definition tracks (on the PDMS-elastomer surface) for electrodes are produced.•Selective Pt or Ni metallization of the tracks is produced via electroless plating.•Irradiated and metallized tracks are characterized by μ-Raman spectrometry and SEM.•DC resistance of Pt and Ni tracks is always between 0.5 and 15Ω/mm. Medical grade polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) elastomer is a widely used biomaterial as encapsulation and/or as substrate insulator carrier for long term neural implants because of its remarkable properties. Femtosecond (λ=263 and 527nm) and nanosecond (266 and 532nm) laser processing of PDMS-elastomer surface, in air, is investigated. The influence of different processing parameters, including laser wavelength, pulse duration, fluence, scanning speed and overlapping of the subsequent pulses, on the surface activation and the surface morphology are studied. High definition tracks and electrodes are produced. Remarkable alterations of the chemical composition and structural morphology of the ablated traces are observed in comparison with the native material. Raman spectra illustrate well-defined dependence of the chemical composition on the laser fluence, pulse duration, number of pulses and wavelength. An extra peak about ∼512–518cm−1, assigned to crystalline silicon, is observed after ns- or visible fs-laser processing of the surface. In all cases, the intensities of SiOSi symmetric stretching at 488cm−1, SiCH3 symmetric rocking at 685cm−1, SiC symmetric stretching at 709cm−1, CH3 asymmetric rocking+SiC asymmetric stretching at 787cm−1, and CH3 symmetric rocking at 859cm−1, modes strongly decrease. The laser processed areas are also analyzed by SEM and optical microscopy. Selective Pt or Ni metallization of the laser processed traces is produced successfully via electroless plating. The metallization process is not sensitive with respect to the time interval after the laser treatment. DC resistance is measured to be as low as 0.5Ωmm−1. Our results show promising prospects with respect to use such a laser-based method for micro- or nano-fabrication of PDMS devices for MEMS and NEMS.