3.3

Drilling and

Planarization

1. Superimpose a blank COP sample on the stainless steel mold

and mark inlets and outlet holes.

2. Drill inlets and outlet holes from the marked locations on the

blank COP substrate. Alternatively, a CNC router can be pro-

grammed to drill inlets and outlets on the COP substrate.

3. Put the drilled COP sample into ultrasonic bath for 15 min and

dry with nitrogen.

4. Clean the burrs around the holes with a craft knife to have

smooth surface.

5. Set the temperatures of the top and bottom plates of the

hydraulic press machine (Carver) to 130
C.

6. Clean the drilled COP substrate and 2 mm thick glass slides

with acetone, IPA and distilled water and dry with nitrogen,

respectively.

7. In order to wipe out the water trace, employ dust-free napkin

and use nitrogen to remove the residues on the glass slides and

COP sample.

8. After cleaning, stack all the pieces in the order of glass, drilled-

COP and glass. Wrap aluminum foil around and place them in

between the hot plates of hydraulic press machine (see Notes 4

and 5).

9. Bring hot plates of the hydraulic press machine close to each

other (see Note 6). Apply 35 bar pressure for 10 min.

10. Leave the system for cooling to 60
C for 1.5 h under pressure

and take pieces out of the machine.

3.4

Hot Embossing

1. Set the temperatures of the top and bottom plates of the

hydraulic press machine to 130
C (see Note 7).

2. Clean the stainless steel mold, planarized COP and a glass

pieces with baby shampoo, acetone, IPA and distilled water,

respectively.

3. Use nitrogen to dry all parts, employ dust-free napkin to

remove the traces on the surfaces and use nitrogen again to

clean out residues.

4. Superimpose the planarized and cleaned COP on the mold,

and sandwich them between glass slides.

5. Place all of the pieces on the hot plate of the hydraulic press

machine, and use a piece of aluminum foil to wrap them.

6. Bring the hot plates of the press machine close together, and

warm up the pieces (the stainless steel mold, COP and glass) for

10 min.

34

Elif Gencturk et al.