Improving the Thickness Uniformity of Micro Gear by Multi-Step, Self-Aligned Lithography and Electroforming
The thickness nonuniformity of an electroformed layer is a bottleneck problem for electroformed micro metal devices. In this paper, a new fabrication method is proposed to improve the thickness uniformity of micro gear, which is the key element of various microdevices. The effect of the thickness of...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-03-01
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| Series: | Micromachines |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-666X/14/4/775 |
| _version_ | 1797604315823603712 |
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| author | Huan Wang Jing Xie Tao Fan Dapeng Sun Chaobo Li |
| author_facet | Huan Wang Jing Xie Tao Fan Dapeng Sun Chaobo Li |
| author_sort | Huan Wang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The thickness nonuniformity of an electroformed layer is a bottleneck problem for electroformed micro metal devices. In this paper, a new fabrication method is proposed to improve the thickness uniformity of micro gear, which is the key element of various microdevices. The effect of the thickness of the photoresist on the uniformity was studied by simulation analysis, which showed that as the thickness of the photoresist increased, the thickness nonuniformity of the electroformed gear should decrease due to the reduced edge effect of the current density. Differently from the traditional method performed by one-step front lithography and electroforming, multi-step, self-aligned lithography and electroforming are used to fabricate micro gear structures in proposed method, which intermittently keeps the thickness of photoresist from decreasing during processes of alternate lithography and electroforming. The experimental results show that the thickness uniformity of micro gear fabricated by the proposed method was improved by 45.7% compared with that fabricated by the traditional method. Meanwhile, the roughness of the middle region of the gear structure was reduced by 17.4%. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T04:44:41Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-779a592efbee44c1b4d1e5fdb19a0a7c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2072-666X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T04:44:41Z |
| publishDate | 2023-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Micromachines |
| spelling | doaj.art-779a592efbee44c1b4d1e5fdb19a0a7c2023-11-17T20:29:09ZengMDPI AGMicromachines2072-666X2023-03-0114477510.3390/mi14040775Improving the Thickness Uniformity of Micro Gear by Multi-Step, Self-Aligned Lithography and ElectroformingHuan Wang0Jing Xie1Tao Fan2Dapeng Sun3Chaobo Li4Institute of Microelectronics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, ChinaInstitute of Microelectronics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, ChinaInstitute of Microelectronics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, ChinaInstitute of Microelectronics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, ChinaInstitute of Microelectronics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, ChinaThe thickness nonuniformity of an electroformed layer is a bottleneck problem for electroformed micro metal devices. In this paper, a new fabrication method is proposed to improve the thickness uniformity of micro gear, which is the key element of various microdevices. The effect of the thickness of the photoresist on the uniformity was studied by simulation analysis, which showed that as the thickness of the photoresist increased, the thickness nonuniformity of the electroformed gear should decrease due to the reduced edge effect of the current density. Differently from the traditional method performed by one-step front lithography and electroforming, multi-step, self-aligned lithography and electroforming are used to fabricate micro gear structures in proposed method, which intermittently keeps the thickness of photoresist from decreasing during processes of alternate lithography and electroforming. The experimental results show that the thickness uniformity of micro gear fabricated by the proposed method was improved by 45.7% compared with that fabricated by the traditional method. Meanwhile, the roughness of the middle region of the gear structure was reduced by 17.4%.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-666X/14/4/775micro-electroformingthickness uniformityself-aligned lithographyroughness |
| spellingShingle | Huan Wang Jing Xie Tao Fan Dapeng Sun Chaobo Li Improving the Thickness Uniformity of Micro Gear by Multi-Step, Self-Aligned Lithography and Electroforming Micromachines micro-electroforming thickness uniformity self-aligned lithography roughness |
| title | Improving the Thickness Uniformity of Micro Gear by Multi-Step, Self-Aligned Lithography and Electroforming |
| title_full | Improving the Thickness Uniformity of Micro Gear by Multi-Step, Self-Aligned Lithography and Electroforming |
| title_fullStr | Improving the Thickness Uniformity of Micro Gear by Multi-Step, Self-Aligned Lithography and Electroforming |
| title_full_unstemmed | Improving the Thickness Uniformity of Micro Gear by Multi-Step, Self-Aligned Lithography and Electroforming |
| title_short | Improving the Thickness Uniformity of Micro Gear by Multi-Step, Self-Aligned Lithography and Electroforming |
| title_sort | improving the thickness uniformity of micro gear by multi step self aligned lithography and electroforming |
| topic | micro-electroforming thickness uniformity self-aligned lithography roughness |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-666X/14/4/775 |
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