Multi-polymer microstereolithography for hybrid opto-MEMS

We have developed a novel microstereolithography method for producing a hybrid structure using multiple photocurable polymers. This method, termed the Multi-polymer IH process, has the potential to provide us with various functional microdevices, such as actuators, sensors and optical devices. The microdevices are produced by combining the diverse properties of different photocurable polymers. To verify the basic performance of our process, several optical waveguides were made with two kinds of photocurable polymers having different refractive indexes. By combining the optical, electrical and mechanical properties of photocurable polymers, this process should advance Polymer MEMS technology and make a substantial contribution to microoptics and microchemical devices for BioMEMS.