Microprocessing at the fingertips

Abstract

Microprocessing, or micromachining, is here approached in a broad rather than profound way. Following a short description of its origin in microelectronics is a classification of more recent advances into three-dimensional processing, anisotropy inducing techniques, stencil processing and conventional machining adapted to micromachining. For each process the major advantages and drawbacks are accounted for. Also, a representative result accompanies every presentation. In all, more than 20 processes are dealt with: wet etching, dry etching, Lithographie-Galvanoformung-Abformung (LIGA), grey-tone lithography, spatial forming, stereolithography, laser chemical processing, local electrodeposition, two-photon-absorbed photopolymerization, focused ion beam (FIB), electrochemically and ion-induced anisotropy, nanoparticle lithography, fast atom beam (FAB), dicing, assembling, lathe machining, milling, die forging and electro-discharge machining (MEDM and WEDG).

High-efficiency approach for fabricating MTE rotor by micro-EDM and micro-extrusion

“…YU, et al [9] , in Lincoln University did the further research on the wear of tool electrode, and conducted the processing micro three dimensions cavities with eighth ball clack cavities. Meanwhile, the Tokyo University has conducted the permalloy rotor and complicated micro three dimensional (micro-3D) structure with kinds of typical mechanical components (e.g., hemisphere, groove, gear, screw) in cylinder with 155 μm in diameter by micro-EDM [10][11] . Therefore, the micro-EDM has advantage in processing the micro-3D structure, and the technique has also been applied to machine of micro holes and micro-3D cavities [12] .…”

Green-tape ceramics. New technological approach for integrating electronics and fluidics in microsystems

“…Most of the work in the literature has focused on microfluidics, as it is the basic platform needed for lTAS development. Glass and silicon have been the most widely used materials for this purpose, in part because they are versatile and chemically robust, with relatively straightforward fabrication and the easy integration to optical detection systems [17,18]. Recently, plastic devices have shown a large number of advantages over those manufactured in glass or silicon, including speed of manufacture, the multilayer approach and lower cost of fabrication [19].…”

Patterned Nanomagnetic Films

“…Then the volatile reaction products desorb from the surface and are removed through the vacuum system, while the desired reaction products remain fixed on the surface as a thin film. The deposited material is not fully pure however, because organic contaminants as well as Ga ions (from the ion beam) are inevitably included in the deposited film [23]. Figure 5(right) shows an array of 800nm Co dots, spaced form each other by 800nm.…”