MICROMACHINING & FABRICATION

Technological expertise

• Micromachining by abrasive powder blasting of grooves, cavities, bores, and cuts.
• Glass-to-glass or glass-to-silicon bonding with or without intermediate layers.
• Deposition of metals by evaporation or electro-deposition.
• Formulation of polymeric materials such as photosensitive polymers, adhesives, and dyes.

Machining characteristics

• Machining depths = 2 mm.
• Feature sizes = 100 µm.
• Structural precision of ± 5 µm relative to the machining mask.
• Taper angles from 10° to 25° depending on the material.
• Roughness Ra of approximately 1.1 µm in glass.
• Maximum aspect ratio of structures in glass of 1:1 for features < 200 µm and 2:1 for features = 200 µm.
• Engraving accuracy of 20 µm or 10% of depth if depth > 200 µm.

Advantages provided by our machining technologies

• Ability to machine complex shapes.
• Anisotropic engraving with machining angles of approximately 15° in glass.
• Since surfaces are protected and retain their original qualities, direct glass-to-glass bonding and encapsulation capabilities are preserved.
• No thermal or mechanical stress induced.
• No burrs.
• Low cost.

Machinable materials

• Hard ceramics such as aluminium nitride.
• Fragile ceramics like piezoceramics (PZT), porous ceramics, and graphite.
• Glass such as Borofloat 33, quartz, and other speciality glasses.
• Semiconductors such as silicon and gallium arsenide (AsGa).
• Natural materials such as mother-of-pearl and semi-precious stones like onyx and lapis-lazuli.
• Precious metals and sintered oxides.
• Plastics like PMMA, Epoxy, and PEEK.