SUMMARY

A new approach for polymer microfabrication is proposed in this research. Stereolithography is a process in which liquid photopolymer resin is cured in presence of light. In the proposed Film Micro Stereolithography (FMSL) process, incident radiation, patterned by a dynamic mask, passes through a transparent substrate to cure photopolymer resin. By controlling the amount of exposure, the height field of the cured film can be controlled. In this research, a process plan will be developed which will incorporate the resin cure kinetics and the system optics in order to create a film of the desired geometry on a flat or curved substrate. Primarily, this research shall seek to address the following four major areas: - Modeling complex resin cure behavior using simple, but efficient models to predict cured shape. A resin response surface model will be developed to be used for process planning purposes. - Formulating a discretization scheme for meshing part geometry so as to be compatible with the process planning algorithm - Developing a solution algorithm to optimize multiple parameters, so that given the final cure shape, the initial manufacturing parameters could be estimated - Identifying critical parameters that affect the FMSL system and formulating a strategy so that the process plan can intelligently adapt to the process variations The intellectual merit of this research lies in developing a strong scientific understanding of photopolymerization and achieving high-fidelity control over the fabrication process. This knowledge will contribute towards developing a process plan to drive the system hardware to generate films of desired geometry.