Dry release of all-polymer structures

We present a simple dry release technique which uses a thin fluorocarbon film for efficient removal of plastic microdevices from a mould or a handling substrate by reducing the adhesion between the two. This fluorocarbon film is deposited on the substrate in an advanced Si dry etch device utilising the C 4F 8 passivation plasma. Micromachined polymer chips made of SU-8 are removed from the handling substrate by lifting them off using mechanical tweezers. Effective release of chips of several mm 2 size within a few seconds and the lift-off of fragile, 5.5-μm-thin cantilevers at a yield of almost 100% were demonstrated on wafer-scale. The fluorocarbon film showed excellent compatibility with metal etch processes and polymer baking and curing steps. It further facilitates demoulding of polydimethylsiloxane stamps suitable for soft-lithography.