A novel process based on the principle of layered photolithography has been proposed and tested for making real three-dimensional micro-structures. An experimental setup was designed and built for doing experiments on this micro-fabrication process. An ultraviolet (UV) excimer laser at the wavelength of 248 nm was used as the light source and a single piece of photo-mask carrying a series of two dimensional (2D) patterns sliced from a three dimensional (3D) micro-part was employed for the photolithography process. The experiments were conducted on the solidification of liquid photopolymer from single layer to multiple layers. The single-layer photolithography experiments showed that certain photopolymers could be applied for the 3D micro-fabrication, and solid layers with sharp shapes could be formed from the liquid polymer identified. By using a unique alignment technique, multiple layers of photolithography was successfully realized for a micro-gear with features at 60 microns. Electroforming was also conducted for converting the photopolymer master to a metal cavity of the micro-gear, which proved that the process is feasible for micro-molding. / Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:MIT/oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/7453 |
| Date | 01 1900 |
| Creators | Tang, Y., Loh, Han Tong, Fuh, J.-Y.-H., Lu, L., Wong, Yeow Sheong, Thian, S. C. H. |
| Source Sets | M.I.T. Theses and Dissertation |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Article |
| Format | 223014 bytes, application/pdf |
| Relation | Innovation in Manufacturing Systems and Technology (IMST); |
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