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US 6,346,030 B1Granted
Microdevice having interior cavity with high aspect ratio surface features and associated methods of manufacture and use
AssigneeSandia Corporation
InventorAlfredo M. Morales
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A microdevice having interior cavity with high aspect ratio features and ultrasmooth surfaces, and associated method of manufacture and use is described. An LIGA-produced shaped bit is used to contour polish the surface of a sacrificial mandrel. The contoured sacrificial mandrel is subsequently coated with a structural material and the mandrel removed to produce microdevices having micrometer-sized surface features and sub-micrometer RMS surface roughness.
Claims20
A method of fabricating a microdevice having an interior cavity with at least one micrometer-size interior surface feature, comprising the steps of:
- (a) providing a shaped bit having a desired surface contour with at least one one micrometer-size surface feature;
- (b) rotating a sacrificial mandrel about a mandrel axis in a precision turning machine;
- (c) coating the sacrificial mandrel with a polishing compound;
- (d) polishing a surface of the rotating mandrel with the contoured surface of the to shaped bit so as to form a contoured sacrificial mandrel exhibiting a desired surface pattern corresponding to a inverse of the contoured surface of the bit;
- (e) coating the contoured sacrificial mandrel with a conformal structural material;
- and
- (f) removing the mandrel from the structural material.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.