Micromachining -Blog
Micromachining means removing (as in drilling, planning, or shaping) of small amounts of material (such as metal) by action other than that of sharp-edged tool micromachining done with an electron beam.
Micromachining is the process of machining very small parts with tools smaller than 0.015 inch in diameter and tolerances of just a few tenths.
Micromachining can create very small and intricate parts that are required for certain applications, particularly in the semiconductor and medical industry. It takes machinery with both sufficient spindle speed and durable cutting tools to produce the repeatability and strength to run at high speeds. Micromachining tools may be as small as 0.001 inch in diameter (1/3 diameter of human hair) to achieve the precision and detail needed.
Types of Micromachining
Various types for the manufacturing of miniature products have been across all the fields. Some of them methods will be discussed here.
- Surface Micromachining
- Bulk Micromachining
Surface Micromachining-
Surface micromachining is a process that uses thin film layers deposited on the surface of a substrate to construct structural components for MEMS.
Unlike bulk micromachining that builds components within a substrate, surface micromachining builds on top of the substrate.
Bulk Micromachining-
Bulk micromachining is a process used to produce micromachinery or microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). Unlike surface micromachining, which uses a succession of thin film deposition and selective etching, bulk micromachining defines structures by selectively etching inside a substrate.
Materials Used
We talked about the different processes and type of laser used in micromachining, now let’s focus on the type of materials.
Typical materials are polymers, glass, ceramics, metals, silicon, solar cell wafer, diamond, and semiconductor wafer.
Depending on the application and laser, there are various fabrication processes available and they differ in throughput, accuracy and performance.
Examples
- Via-Hole Drilling- laser hole drilling on thin materials.
- Flex PCB drilling and trepanning- drilling holes or removing materials on circuits from panels.
- Ceramic hole drilling and shape cutting- for alumina or other ceramic materials to cut or drill any shape or non-linear cuts.
- Conductive film patterning- for flat panel and touch screen display processing, for example patterns of a variety of materials like glass, plastic, ceramics, film, etc.
- Solar cell manufacturing- PERC, SE, drilling, edge isolation and scoring.
Application
Micromachining and –an even smaller field– nanotechnology are key players in solving specific application challenges like manufacturing micro and compact components ranging from biomedical applications to chemical microreactors and sensors. These two technologies are used in micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS), referring to technology that allows mechanical structures to be miniaturized and integrated in an electrical structure, forming a single system.
As the market demand for smaller and even more compact devices is on the rise, product miniaturization has become an increasing trend. Thanks to continued technology advances in this field, mass production of micro-sized components designed for micro and nano systems has been possible.
The mass production of silicon through micromachining can produce structures inside a substrate, while surface micromachining can make structural thin films on a sacrificial layer for the semiconducting industry.
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