Author(s)

Wesley Sims¹, Aschalew Kassu², Carlton Farley¹, Anup Sharma^1*

¹Department of Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics, Alabama A&M University, Normal, AL, USA.
²Department of Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering and Construction Management, Alabama A&M University, Normal, AL, USA.

We describe a technique for micro-patterning and immobilization of dyes on polymer substrates using a low-power visible laser for dye-excitation. Deposits from an aqueous medium containing the dye can be attached at any desired spot on the substrate simply by exposing the area to laser light. The area of the laser beam can control the spot-size of immobilized dye, in the range of 10 - 100 microns. The immobilization technique is characterized by micro-printing numerals, alphabets and patterns on polybutadiene substrates with Rhodamine (Rh6G) dye. Adsorption of laser-excited dye molecules within the polymer appears to be the mechanism for laser-printing technique.

Laser Micro-Printing, Laser Immobilization of Molecules, Micro-Patterning, Reticle

Sims, W. , Kassu, A. , Farley, C. and Sharma, A. (2016) Laser Micro-Printing of Dye-Molecules on Polymeric Surfaces. Open Journal of Applied Sciences, 6, 416-421. doi: 10.4236/ojapps.2016.67043.