Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-mlc7c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T15:50:58.207Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

A UV Direct-Write Approach for Formation of Embedded Structures in Photostructurable Glass-Ceramics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 February 2011

P.D. Fuqua
Affiliation:
Materials Processing and Evaluation Department, Space Materials Laboratory The Aerospace Corporation, Los Angeles, CA 90009-2957
D.P. Taylor
Affiliation:
Materials Processing and Evaluation Department, Space Materials Laboratory The Aerospace Corporation, Los Angeles, CA 90009-2957
H. Helvajian
Affiliation:
Center for Microtechnology; The Aerospace Corporation, Los Angeles, CA 90009-2957
W.W. Hansen
Affiliation:
Center for Microtechnology; The Aerospace Corporation, Los Angeles, CA 90009-2957
M.H. Abraham
Affiliation:
Center for Microtechnology; The Aerospace Corporation, Los Angeles, CA 90009-2957
Get access

Abstract

Photostructurable glass-ceramics are a promising class of materials for MEMS devices. Previous work micromachining these materials used conventional photolithography equipment and masking techniques; however, we use direct-write CAM tools and a pulsed UV laser micromachining station for rapid prototyping and enhanced depth control. We have already used this class of materials to build components for MEMS thrusters, including fuel tanks and nozzles: structures that would prove difficult to build by standard microfabrication techniques.

A series of experiments was performed to characterize process parameters and establish the processing trade-offs in the laser exposure step. The hypothesis that there exists a critical dose of UV light for the growth of an etchable crystalline phase was tested by exposing the material to a fluence gradient for a variety of pulse train lengths, and then processing as usual. By measuring the dimensions of the etched region, we were able to determine the dose. We found that the dose is proportional to the square of the per-pulse fluence. This has allowed us to create not only embedded structures, but also stacked embedded structures. This also implies that we can embed tubes and tunnels with a single exposure inside a monolithic glass sample. We feel that this technique has promise for a number of applications, including microfluidics.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2000

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

1 Stookey, S.D., Indust. Engin. Chem. 45(1) (1953) p. 115118 Google Scholar
2 Berezhnoi, A., Glass-Ceramics and Photo-sitalls, Plenum, New York, 1970, now available at UMI, Ann Arbor, MIGoogle Scholar
3 Fuqua, P., Janson, S.W., Hansen, W.W., and Helvajian, H., in Laser Applications in Microelectronic and Optoelectronic Manufacturing IV, edited by Dubowski, J.J., Helvajian, H.H., Kreutz, E.W., and Sugioka, K. (Soc. Photo. Opt. Inst. Engin. 3618, Bellingham, WA 1999) p.213220 Google Scholar
4 Hansen, W.W., Janson, S.W., Helvajian, H., in Laser Applications in Microelectronic and Optoelectronic Manufacturing II, (Soc. Photo. Opt. Inst. Engin. 2991, Bellingham, WA 1997) p.104112 Google Scholar
5 Foturan - A Material for Microtechnology, technical literature by Schott Glaswerke Optics Division and IMM Institut für Mikrotechnik GmBH Mainz Germany.Google Scholar
6 Hülsenberg, D., Bruntsch, R., Schmidt, K., Reinhold, F., Mikromechanische Bearbeitung von fotoempfindlichem Glas, Silikattechnik, Vol. 41 (1990), 364.Google Scholar
7 Stookey, S.D., Private communication. Coming also worked on UV laser exposure of photostructurable glass-ceramics, but never published the results.Google Scholar
8 Zr,=π f#2 λ, where f# is the relative aperture. Siegman, A., Lasers, University Science Books, Mill Valley, CA, 1986, p.663679 Google Scholar