Dear Michal,

There are a number of solvents that will dissolve PMMA. The lower your
molecular weight of PMMA, the faster the solvents will dissolve it.
Monochlorobenzene, Anisole, NMP will attack the PMMA quickly. Toulene, Ethyl
Lactate, or EEP will also dissolve PMMA but not as fast.  I don't know which
solvent, if any of theses, will work well for your polishing application.

Mac

> From: "Mielnik, Michal" 
> Subject: [mems-talk] non-mechanical polishing of PMMA
>
> I am working with micromachined (milled) PMMA microchannels. The
> dimensions are typically down to 50 microns.
> However, the roughness of the surfaces after machining is somewhat high.
> Does anyone have an idea on how I can polish these channels? (make
> smooth walls). I cannot do it mechanically due to the dimensions. So;
> Is it possible to simply flush them with e.g. some solvent like toulene
> or dichloromethane to obtain smoother surfaces?
> Any idea on flow rates and treatment times?