Laser drilling

Laser drilling is a non-cutting machining method. The energy input by Laser is locally so high that the material ionises and evaporates. This plasma leaves the substrate and leaves a hole. The biggest advantages of this technique are the contactless machining and that the temperature stays very low.

Contact:

FEMTO-ST

CNRS-FEMTO-ST
Dpt. LPMO
Dr. Chantal Khan Malek
32 Av. de l' Observatoire
25044 Besancon
France

phone: +33 (0)3 81 85 39 35
chantal.khan-malek@femto-st.fr

Lithography

Photolithography (also called optical lithography) is a process used in microfabrication to selectively remove parts of a thin film (or the bulk of a substrate). It uses light to transfer a geometric pattern from a photomask to a light-sensitive chemical (photoresist) on the substrate. A series of chemical treatments then engraves the exposure pattern into the material underneath the photoresist.

Contact:

Fraunhofer IBMT

Fraunhofer-Institute for Biomedical Engineering
Head of Department Biomedical Microsystems
Dr. Thomas Velten
Ensheimer Strasse 48
66386 St. Ingbert
Germany

phone: +49 (0)6894 980-301
thomas.velten@ibmt.fraunhofer.de
IBMT homepage

Micro-drilling

Micro drilling is basically the same as conventional drilling. Not only the size of the tool is smaller, but the method also stands for a precise rotation and a special drilling cycle. Therefore the surface of the hole is very smooth. The revolution speed used in micro drilling is much higher than in conventional drilling.

Contact:

Fraunhofer IBMT

Fraunhofer-Institute for Biomedical Engineering
Head of Department Biomedical Microsystems
Dr. Thomas Velten
Ensheimer Strasse 48
66386 St. Ingbert
Germany

phone: +49 (0)6894 980-301
thomas.velten@ibmt.fraunhofer.de
IBMT homepage

Micro-sandblasting

Micro sandblasting uses air and micro particles to create structures on a micrometric scale. With this technique it is also possible to create holes when either the substrate is very thin (foil) or the method is applied longer. The geometry of created structures is defined by masks.

Contact:

RAL

Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
CMF
Dr. Andreas Schneider
Building R18 room G55
Chilton, Didcot
Oxfordshire
OX11 0QX
United Kingdom

phone: +44-(0)1235-44-5178
A.Schneider@rl.ac.uk

Ultrasonic drilling

Ultrasonic drilling, also known as ultrasonic impact grinding, is a machining operation in which an abrasive slurry freely flows between the workpiece and a vibrating tool. It differs from most other machining operations because very little heat is produced. The tool never contacts the workpiece and as a result the grinding pressure is rarely more than 2 pounds, which makes this operation perfect for machining extremely hard and brittle materials, such as glass, sapphire, ruby, diamond, and ceramics.

Contact:

FEMTO-ST

CNRS-FEMTO-ST
Dpt. LPMO
Dr. Chantal Khan Malek
32 Av. de l' Observatoire
25044 Besancon
France

phone: +33 (0)3 81 85 39 35
chantal.khan-malek@femto-st.fr

Water jet (WJ) and sinking electrical discharge machining

A water jet cutter is a tool capable of slicing into metal or other materials using a jet of water at high velocity and pressure, or a mixture of water and an abrasive substance. The process is essentially the same as water erosion found in nature but greatly accelerated and concentrated. It is often used during fabrication or manufacture of parts for machinery and other devices. It has found applications in a diverse number of industries from mining to aerospace where it is used for operations such as cutting, shaping, carving, and reaming.

Sinker EDM sometimes is also referred to as cavity type EDM or volume EDM. Sinker EDM consists of an electrode and workpiece that are submerged in an insulating liquid such as oil or dielectric fluid. The electrode and workpiece are connected to a suitable power supply. The power supply generates an electrical potential between the two parts. As the electrode approaches the workpiece, dielectric breakdown occurs in the fluid forming an ionization channel, and a small spark jumps. The resulting heat and cavitation vaporize the base material, and to some extent, the electrode. These sparks strike one at a time in huge numbers at seemingly random locations between the electrode and the workpiece. As the base metal is eroded, and the spark gap subsequently increased, the electrode is lowered automatically by the machine so that the process can continue uninterrupted. Several hundred thousand sparks occur per second in this process, with the actual duty cycle being carefully controlled by the setup parameters. These controlling cycles are sometimes known as "on time" and "off time". The on time setting determines the length or duration of the spark. Hence, a longer on time produces a deeper cavity for that spark and all subsequent sparks for that cycle creating a rougher finish on the workpiece. The reverse is true for a shorter on time. Off time is the period of time that one spark is replaced by another. A longer off time for example, allows the flushing of dielectric fluid through a nozzle to clean out the eroded debris, thereby avoiding a short circuit. These settings are maintained in micro seconds. The typical part geometry is to cut small or odd shaped angles. Vertical, orbital, vectorial, directional, helical, conical, rotational, spin and indexing machining cycles are also used.

Contact:

University of Ljubljana

University of Ljubljana
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
Dr. Josko Valentincic
Askerceva 6
SI-1000 Ljubljana
Slovenia

phone: +386 (0)1 4771 724
valentin@fs.uni-lj.si