Environmentally benign material removal processes for the fabrication of microdevices

Non-contact material removal processes offer numerous advantages over traditional machining approaches and nowhere is this more apparent than in the fabrication of micro devices. Current micromachining techniques such as microgrinding and micromilling have limitations with respect to their positioning accuracy and tool deflections. Electro thermal processes such as microEDM and laser machining usually result in a heat affected zone being produced. Other approaches such as etching and non-contact ultraprecision polishing are either costly or are not suitable for high throughput. In order to address these limitations, alternative micromachining techniques are required. In this paper, a non-contact material removal technique based on the electrokinetic phenomenon is proposed for precise material removal at rates in the order of nanometers/min. The aim of this research is to have a better understanding on the electrokinetic material removal technique by studying the trajectory of the particles and the influence of the frequency of the electric field on the material removal rate.