Keynote Papers

State of the Art of Micromachining

T Masuzawa (1)
Institute of Industrial Science, University ofTokyo,Tokyo, Japan

Abstract
Miniaturization is proceeding in various types of industrial products. Micromachining is the foundation of the
technology to realize such miniaturizedproducts. In this paper, the author summarizes the basic concepts and
applications of major methods of rnicromachining. The basic characteristics of each group of methods are
discussed based on different machining phenomena. Promising methods are introduced in detail hinting at
suitable areas of application. Finally, the present state of these technologies is shown with examples of
experimental and practicalapplications.

Keywords: Micro-machining, Micro-technology, Micro-product

1 INTRODUCTION 'image of the product' is given by the 'design' and

1.1 Importance of micromachining introduced into the physical flow through 'control &
Hundreds of years ago, wristwatch parts were measurement'. Among the four elements of production
basically the only industrial microproducts manufactured. technology, all except design are directly concerned with
However, recent changes in society's demands have forced the physical flow. Therefore, these three elements need
us to introduce more and more microparts into various
types of industrial products. For example, after the
introduction of semiconductor devices, electrical circuits
became extremely compact. Integrated circuit packages
are required to contain devices having microdimensions.
The circuit board must have rnicroholes. Relays and
switches are required to be assemblies of microsized
mechanical parts. Another example is the fuel injection
nozzle for automobiles. Severe regulations arising from
environmental problems have forced us to improve the
design of the nozzle towards those of smaller size and
improved accuracy. A new candidate requiring
microproducts is the field of biotechnology. Since the
objects in this field include biological cells and genes, the
tool that handles them must have microeffectors. Medical
applications are also important. Inspection and surgery
control
.-...v
,,'
measurement **.
without pain are universally desired. Miniaturization of *.
medical tools is one of the effective approaches to arrive at

&
this target.
Micromachining is one of the key technologies
that can enable the realization of all of the above
requirements for microproducts and fields with such
product
requirements are rapidly expanding.
--- object (reality)
1.2 Situation of micromachining as a field of
production technology
0--object (image)
Figure 1 shows the relationship between the
0--
technology
production process and the fields of production technology. Fig. 1. Relationship among technologies
The physical flow of production is simple, as shown by and objects in production.
arrows with solid line. The 'material' is processed into
'parts' and the parts are assembled into a 'product'. The

Annals of the ClRP Vol. 49/2/2000 473

special strategies and techniques in order to cope with the machining). Depending on the dimensions of
special condition of the object, i. e., very small dimensions. interest, UR can be expressed in terms of one-, two- or
The special technique in the processing of microproducts is three-dimensional values, i.e., length, area, cross-sectional
called microprocessing. area or volume. Since UR gives the limit of the smallest
If the same way of nomenclature is allowed, adjustable dimensions of the product, it should be much
such techniques as microcontrol, micromeasurement and smaller than the size of the product. For micromachining,
microassembly must be developed in order to complete the since the object is smaller than 500pm, UR must be smaller
physical flow of microproduct production. than several micrometers. UR of sub-micrometer order is
On the other hand, design has no direct also required when the object size is very small or when
relationship with the physical flow. This supports the fact high precision of the product is required.
that "design is easy but production is not easy" for
microproducts. As an extension of this fact, a special 2.2 Equipment precision
condition appears. Since designers know this fact, they When a miniaturized product is requested, for
limit their o m idea to creating only an image of product that example, a product whose size is 1/10 of the original one, it
does not contain micropark. is desirable that the dimensional error of the product be
The ref0re, the development of mic rotechnology likewise reduced to 1110. Therefore, higher precision of
tends to be seed-oriented because a need of production the micromachining equipment is desired although it is
often appears after some time when designers become often impossible to reduce the dimensional error in
a w r e of new microtechnologies ready for practical proportion to the size of product.
applications.
Micromachining is sometimes used as a 2.3 Sufficient condition
synonym of microprocessing. However, machining The condition suggested by the two guidelines
contains some nuance of processing with machine tools. presented above is evidently the necessary condition for
In this paper, micromachining is considered a part of micromachining. However, in many cases, it is also the
microprocessing according to the above nuance and sufficient condition. If the two requirements, small UR and
excludes such processes as photofabrication and plating, high equipment precision, were satisfied, micromachi ning
which produce one- or two-dimensional thin products. would be possible independent of the type of machining
The last part of this section tries to define what process. Since the theoretical, minimum URs possible in
the range of "micro" is. Literally, micro in micromachining most processes are of the nanometer order,
indicates 'micrometer' and represents the range of 1 pm to micromachining is theoretically possible in most existing
999pm. However, micro likewise means "very small". In machining processes.
the field of machining, very small products are not On the other hand, the theoretical, smallest UR
fabricated easily. Therefore, micro should also indicate is larger than the size of an atom. This suggests that in
too small to be machined easily. In fact, the range of micromachining in the lower range of dimensions, for
micro varies according to era, person, machining method, example, 1 to 10 pm, it may be more difficult to achieve the
type of product or material. In the Scientific Technical ideal UR and equipment precision because of the influence
Committee of the Physical and Chemical Machining of this absolute limit.
Processes of CIRP, 1 to 500pm was adopted as the range
for this keynote paper. 3 TYPES OF MICROMACHINING PROCESS

2 CONDITIONS AND REALIZATION Since the sufficient condition for realizing

When an improvement is required, the approach micromachining is simple as described above, many types
is usually different for every method of machining. The of machining process can be utilized in order to realize
approach toward micromachining has, however, a common micromachining [I -51. The basic characteristics of such
base for most existing machining methods. When the process are classified according to the machining
following two guidelines are set, the approach is almost phenomena. The advantages and disadvantages of the
correctly directed toward micromachin i ng. machining process are also discussed.
(1) Reduce unit removal (UR)
(2) Improve equipment precision 3.1 Removal by mechanical force
Among the conventional machining processes
2.1 Unit removal based on material removal from a workpiece, the most
The concept of unit removal (hereafter referred popular ones are those in which the useless part of the
to as UR) was introduced as 'processing unit' by N. workpiece is removed by mechanical force through plastic
Taniguchi [I] to explain the difference in removal or brittle breakage.
phenomena between micromachining and conventional In the process of this type, the first requirement
machining. UR is defined as the part of a workpiece for micromachining, small UR, is satisfied when a high
removed during one cycle of removal action. For example, stress that causes breakage of material is applied to a very
the volume of material removed from the workpiece by one small area or volume of the workpiece. This means that a
pulse of discharge is UR in EDM (electrical discharge highly concentrated force must be applied to an appropriate
position of the workpiece. Therefore, assuming that the properties of the workpiece do not influence the machining
desired UR is around 100 nm, a tool that has its edge process. In contrast, thermal properties such as melting
sharpened to a radius smaller than l p m is necessary, point, boiling point, heat conduction efficiency and heat
according to the analysis applying molecular dynamics capacitance influence machining characteristics.
simulation [6]. Owing to the advancement of technology, However, these properties are not so influencial as the
such a requirement can be satisfied by most of the mechanical strength in cutting, because the temperature
conventional processes in this category. Cutting, generated by electrical discharge, laser beam or electron
sandblasting, grinding and ultrasonic machining are beam can easily exceed the boiling point of any material on
examples of processes of this type. Punching is another earth.
example, although UR equals to the size of the product. One remarkable advantage of these processes
Cutting, grinding and punching present the is that the machining force is much smaller than that in
advantage that the tools in these processes contact the cutting processes, because molten material can be
workpiece during machining. This leads to a good removed with a very small force. This property provides
geometric correlation between the tool path and the advantages to both the tool and the workpiece. For
machined surface. Sandblasting and USM do not have example, in EDM, a very thin tool can be used because it
this advantage because the cutting part of the tool will not be bent by the machining force. The choice of tool
(abrasive) is not fixed on the main body of the tool. material is wider than that in cutting and grinding. The
The major drawback of processes of this type is workpiece may also be thin and elastic. On the other hand,
that the machining force may influence machining accuracy one drawback comes from the fact that in these processes,
and the limit of machinable size because of elastic the tool does not contact the workpiece mechanically.
deformation of the microtool andlor the workpiece. Because of this, there remains an uncertainty in specifying
The processes of this type are accompanied by the workpiece dimensions. Moreover, in LBM and EBM,
the largest machining force among the processes based on the outline of the tool (shaped beam) itself is not exactly
material removal. The force is small when the UR is small. clear.
However, in the above processes except cutting, removal Another drawback is the formation of a heat-
takes place at multiple machining points simultaneously, affected layer on the machined surface. Since it is
and the force is not as small as expected from UR but is as impossible to remove all the molten part of the workpiece, a
large as the sum of all the forces occurring at the machining thin layer of molten material remains on the workpiece
points. surface, which re-solidifies during cooling. The immediate
One of the effective techniques to reduce the machining inner layer of the workpiece is not melted but heating
force is to give vibration to the tool during cutting [7]. changes its structure. The presence of such a layer may
The tool material for these processes must be cause problems when the product is in use.
stronger than the workpiece material, and for the case of
very small UR, the breakage strength of the material 3.3 Removal by ablation
approaches its theoretical value, G12n (G: elastic constant There are two types of methods that are based
for shear deformation). Because of this condition, on material removal by ablation. One uses a power
diamond and hard ceramics are suitable for use as tool or source that emits a beam with very high quantum energy.
abrasive material for all processes of this type when the If the energy exceeds the binding energy among atoms of
workpiece is a metal. the workpiece, each molecule can be decomposed directly
into atoms and removed from the workpiece.
3.2 Removal by melting and vaporization The other method uses an energy beam of
There are newly developed processes that which incident power density to the workpiece is extremely
provide the energy for material removal in the form of heat. high. Such a high power enables the removal of the
EDM, LBM (laser beam machining) and EBM (electron workpiece by vaporization, skipping the phase of melting. In
beam machining) are typical examples. In these some cases, molecules are also decomposed.
processes, the useless part of the workpiece is melted, and Excimer lasers and femtosecond lasers [8]
in some cases, vaporized by heat generated by various (hereafter referred to as FS lasers) are, respectively, typical
physical phenomena. The molten part is removed by examples of power sources for the above two types. The
pressurized gas generated by different sources in each remarkable feature of these methods is that little heat-
method. A small UR for micromachining is realized by affected layer remains on the machined surface. This
reducing the pulse energy in each process, by mainly leads to the possibility of machining microshapes with high
controlling the electrical parameters. The concentration of dimensional accuracy and less defects in the surface layer.
energy is also necessary in order to realize a local high The main drawbacks are low efficiency in material removal
temperature. In EDM, the energy concentration is and consequently, low machining speed. Another
naturally provided by the pinch effect of a short-pulse arc in drawback is the high cost of equipment due to their short
high-pressure gas (about 1 atm or higher). In LBM and history.
EBM, the beam shape is controlled by an optical system to In both types, microshapes can be generated by
sharply focus on the target point of the workpiece. projecting mask patterns, whose size is reduced by using
In processes of this type, the mechanical optics.
3.4 Removal by d issolution 3.6 M i d i f i c a t i o n
Chemical or electrochemical di55olution in liquid There are procesrses in which the shape of the
is also utilized in micromchining. In this type of process, mold is replimted. Injection molding and die casting are
the remwal mechanism is based on ionic reaction on the typical mamples. In these p m e s e s , a liquid or a pas&
mrrkpiece surface. This leads lo a very s m l l UR in the is solidified in a m l d , and the shape of the mold is
direction perpendicular to the surface. The other lw replicated. These procescse5 have advantages and
dimensionsare usually specified by a patterned mask disadvantages similar to those of processes based on
Photoetching is a typical example of this type. plastic deformtion. Since the raw material is not solid.
Hwever, although the mask can speciry a pattern with the spring-back phenomenon is not observed; however,
g m d precision, etching proceeds isotropically. This there is a similar deformation caused by temperature
restricts the applicability of this method to only low aspect change. Another problem is the formation of defects such
ratio products such as semiconductor devices. as bubbla in the mrrkpiece during prmessing. When a
Another type of electrochemiwl etching, using a curing process is nexssaty after molding, deformation by
tool such as a pipe to specify the machining shape, is more curing is the major problem.
suitable for 30 micromachining. Although =me leakage
current is inevitable bEause of the presence of electrolyte, 3.7 Lam ination
the use of an insulating film makes it possible to machine, One uniquetype of prom- in which the material
for example, deep microholes. is solidified from liquid is that based on layer-by-layer
The advantages besides a small UR are as solidification. Various rapid prototyping processes are
foil-: included in this type. In some cases, powder or sheet
The machining force is almost zero. material is used in place of liquid, although micromachining
9 The surface after machining is free from any today is limited to stereolithography (SL).
damage, residual slmss or heat effects. The feature of this type of prmess is that inner
The mechanical properties of the workpiece do part of the product can be easily shaped as well as its
not influence the remwal mechanism. outside profile. For example, a block with a clmed cavty
In mst cases, the dissolution phenomenon inside can be formed.
renders the mrrkpige surface smoth. Another advantage of this vpe of process is that
The main drawbacks are related lo machining there is no necessity of a die or a mld. A scanning beam
aauracy. Since a certain volume of electrolyk is required such as a laser can generate any kind of 3 0 shape. The
in the gap behveen the tool and the workpime, the gap major disadvantage is the narrow choiee of the material.
cannot be extremely small, and should be micrometer order. In the case of solidification, the mncept of 'unit
This reduces the precision in copying the tool shape solidification' should be considered. This plays the role of
(including the tool path) into the rmrkpiece. The flw UR in other processes. For micropart production, unit
pattern and the temperature of the electrolyte alSo influence solidifi~~tion must be small.
machining aocuracy.
3.8 Reearnposition
3.5 Plastic deformation There are processes that utilize the reverse
The p r o c e s s based on plastic deformation are phenomenon of disolution. Metal ions in an electrolyte
more efficient than those based on mterial removal. In are deionized to b e m m solid and to form a shape. The
most of these process=, the shape of the product is shape can be specified by a mold or a subsbate.
specaied by copying the shape(@of a die (and a punch) or Electroplating is a typical example of this type of process.
a mold. In these processes, there is neither remwal nor Since deionization proceeds on an atom-by-atom basis, the
addition of mterial. Therefore, UR is meaningless. The degree mrresponding to UR in removal processes is very
pnssibility of micromachining mainly depends on the s m l l . This characteristic makes these processes highly
possibility of didmold making. The mast remarkable suitable for micromachining. Similar to the pmesses
advantage is the production speed. In many cases, the based on solidification, mst problems on machining
machining time is of millisemnd order in principle. This accuraeyare shifted to the stage of mold fabrication.
indicates the sukabilty of t h s e prmeuses for ms6 One unique characteristic of t h s e prrrcesss is
production. Regarding dimensional accuracy, m a t that concave microshapes are more easily fabrided than
difficulties lie in dielmld making. conveX ones, because the processes are basically
The main i s u e concerning 10sof accuracy is attachment pra;esses that p m e e d in the direction
the spring-back phenomenon or the partial remvery from oppasite to remaral processes.
deformation after processing. Another issue is the Ma55 productivity i5 one advantage of these
flowability limit of the rmrkpiece material. The flowability is p r a x s s a , owing tn the use of a rmld to speclfy the
sometimes insufficient to follow the sharp cornem of the p r d u d s shape.
dielmld. One major limitation is that the materialsthat can
The basic restriction of these p r o c e s s is that be used are limited to those that can be recomposed from
onlyrmrkpieces s d e r than the dielmld can be processed. solution.
Table 1 roughly compares the processes b a d
on material removal. Table 2 s h o w the major methods Table 2. PrinciDal micromachinina met hods.
grouped by the machining mechanism.
I principle I met hod I
force cutti ng, grinding, USfv
4 TYPICAL MICROMACHINING TECHNOLOGIES
melt inq/vaporization EDMI L W EBw
In this section, several examples of typical
micromachining technologies are briefly introduced. ablation LBM (excimer short pulse)
~

dissolution ECM, photoet chinq

4.1 Micro-EDM [9-471 I plastic deformation I punching, press I
EDM is a machining process based on material solid if icat io n molding cast ing
~

removal by melting and, partly, vaporization. Heat is laminati on st ere0 lithography

recomposit ion elect rof orming
Table 1. Advantages and disadvantages of t h e
micromachining processes based o n material
re m oval.

principle

c
parameter

mn I depth I +
+ + + ++

width + - -

++ ++ +
-
m
._
c
L
a, ++ ++ +
2
+ ++ +
+ + + + ++
(too I, workp iece)

a,
residual stress -
- + ++
0

~~
- + ++
la ye r

++ advan t age0 us
+ dependent
- negative

Table 3 Machinable shapes by EDM.

1 , 2, 3 - - - - - - dimension of t h e relative movement between elect rode and workpiece

(RE) --------- elect rode with or without rotation
W - - - - - - - - - - workpiece with rotation
conductive materials, because the electrode can be a and pattern alignment
simple cylinder and because the required machining force Since the applied photon energy is similar b the
is very small. Holes of 5pm diameter have already energy levelof molecular bonds in plastics, the ideal hrge
appeared on the catalogue of a comnerdally available for excimer laser machining are plaaics and similar
machine. materials, and n d metals. When a very high pmmr is
When oil is used as the dielectric fluid, precision applied, the remaval phenomenon invotves a combination
of submicron order is possible for microshapes. This fact of heating and phobon attack. In such a case, most
and the above-mentioned feature indicate that micmEDM materials can be pmcessed.
is one of the most promising methods in bmw of size and The FS laser is another typical and practical
precision. The choice of machinable shape varies widely, example of lasers suitable for micromachining (8, 49-51].
as can be seen from Table 3. Since the pulse duration is as short as tens of
One of the most recently dwebped h o d s , femtoseconds, the peak paver reaches teravlRltt order.
the Uniform W a r Method, has the a b l i i b generate 3D When the beam is focused, its high fluence enables the
shapes using only simple cylindrical or square cross remaval of any kind of material by evaporation. Moreover,
section pins as electrodes [1&20,23J the short processing time per unit pulse suppmses the
The machining speed of EDM is n d particularly formation of any kind of heat-affedd zone induding a
high. The use of deionized water improves machining melting zone. This property leads to its suitability for
speed b a certain extent, but deteriorates machining precision micromachining.
accuracy because it widens the gap behwen the electrode Atthough this type of laser has been introduced
and themrkpiece. recently into the field of machining, technical improvement
The materials that can be machined indude of various asp&$ is n-ry for practical applications.
metals and albys and other electrically conductive Senreral examples of such technical improvement are:
materials. Machining of non-oonducbive ceramics is
possible in certain condition, but the method for such (1) Application of diffractbeoptical element (DOE) [rls]
machining is still under dwebpment When the intensity of a laser beam is very high,
WEDM is another important type of EDM the occurrence of plasma formation, seMocusing and
[37,42,47]. Standard M D M machines are usually filamentation leads b beam distortion. T h phenomena
equipped with a wire electrode 200 or 250 pm in diameter. occur at the intermediate focal point of a conventional
By changing the wire electrode to a very thin one, for optical & u p for an FS laser, except in a vacuum
example less than 50pm in diameter, micmWEDM is environment By introducing DOE, which does n d need
realized. Machines with 03@m wire electrodes are intermediate focusing, the abave problems are avoided.
already in the market. The possibility of using 0lOpm This Seeup is convenient for drilling circular holes with the
wire electrode has also been confirmed. Using this micro- further advantage of effident (effidency>80%) u t i l i i n of
WEDM, the machinable shapes of holes and dies range beam energy because of its maskieesconfiguration.
widely, similar to those using conventional W M .
(2) Developmentof polarization trepanning method
4.2 Micro LBM (laser beam machining) [8,- When a high-aspect-ratio hole is machined,
It is k n m that micromachining can be realized polarizationdependent reflection occurs at the wall of the
by LBM when the beam is focused b a small spot hole. This causes non-uniform intensity distributions,
A CO, or Nd:YAG laser can machine microholes resulting in non-drcular shape at the hole outlet.
with medium or kw aspect ratios. H w e r , the formation 'Polarkation trepanning' is a method where a M n g
of a re-solidified layer and a heat-affectedzone is inwitable, quarter-we plate is inserted into the beam path during
as mentioned in 3.2. Consequently, holes and s l i i of percussion drilling. This dynamic arrangement
medium precision with various crass sections but with compensates the influence of polarization and a circular
aspect ratio ranging from 1 to 2, are the main products of outlet is obtained. When this method is combined with the
these LBMs. Since a high-pmm generator is available, the self-organization effect carefully adjusted with concerning
machining efficiency of these lasers is considered b be the parameterq deep, straight microholes (for example,
highest among the available micromachining methods. 0 1m m ,lmn deep) can be machined.
An excimer laser, on the contrary, offers high-
precision machining without the formation of a re-solidified (3) A p p l i i o n of SNOM (scanning near-field optical
layer and a heat-affected zone p2541. When the pattern of microsoope) equipment pl]
the mask inserted into the optical path is focused onto the In order b produce a very n a m product, it is
wkpii surface, precise indentation of the pattern is effective b suppress the fluence of a beam dightiy above
formed in the w k p i i . Higher accuracy can be achierved the threshold of remaval occurrence. A hole that is smaller
when a shorter melength, for example, 193nm of an ArF than the welength can be machined using this technique.
laser, is applied. Howver, the size of the hole varies widely in repeated
Multiple holes and patterns with dimensions as operations. Using a metakded, hollaw micropipette for
small as 10pm can be machined simlneoudy, This SNOM, the laser beam can be led into a very small spot
feature is effecbive for realizing good reproducibility in hole characterized by the opening of the micropipette. In this
case, the beam fluence is much higher than the threshold high-precision machine head and its influence on
(but lower than that for metal coating where the incidence workpiece holding accuracy is negligible.
angle is very large). With this technique, sub-wavelength
horizontal resolution is achieved with good reproducibility. 4.4 Microcutting [46, 56, 64-72]
Aside from the examples shown above, the Although cutting is the most conventional
combination of short pulse and short wavelength (obtained machining process, continuous improvement in machining
by frequency-multiplied radiation) is expected to widen the precision has enabled us to apply this process in
field of application. micromachining. Recent results of MDS (molecular
dynamics simulation) suggest the possibility of reducing UR
4.3 Micro-USM (ultrasonic machining) [55-621 (of depth) to I n m [6, 73-76]. Since ultraprecision cutting
USM is a method in which a tool and free machines can achieve the highest level of positioning
abrasives are used. The tool that is vibrated at ultrasonic accuracy, micromachining by cutting is possible.
frequency drives the abrasive to create a brittle breakage Other necessary conditions are to reduce the
on the workpiece surface. The shape and dimensions of the radius of the tool edge in order to realize a small thickness
workpiece depend on those of the tool. Since material of cut and to use hard materials for the tool. Of course,
removal is based on brittle breakage, this method is attention should be paid to avoiding the influence of cutting
suitable for machining brittle materials such as glass, force on the elastic deformation of the tool and/or the
ceramics, silicon and graphite. workpiece.
The UR required for micromachining can be Several types of cutting processes are suitable
realized when submicron particles are available for use as for micromachining. Drilling for microholes, milling for
abrasive. Microtools can be supplied in the same way as microgrooves and micro 3D shapes, turning for micropins
that in micro-EDM, because the same types of tools are and fly cutting for microconvex structures are typical
used to specify the corresponding shapes of products, examples.
although the microscopic removal phenomenon is Microdrilling has been widely used in various
completely different. applications. The advantages are as follows:
The major problems are the accuracy of the
setup and the dynamics of the equipment. Ultrasonic (1) The electrical properties of the workpiece do not
vibration of the machining head makes accurate tool influence the process. Therefore, most metal and plastics,
holding difficult. The implementation of a transducer including their composites, can be machined easily. One
(actuator for the vibration) and rotation mechanism is too typical example is the drilling of holes in laminated printed
difficult to maintain high equipment precision. However, circuit boards.
recent development has overcome most of these difficulties.
The main achievements are as follows: (2) Machining time can be controlled easily because the
process is stable when an appropriate feed rate per rotation
(1) Introduction of on-the-machine tool preparation is set.
The main problem in tool holding accuracy
arises from the soldering process that has been applied to On the other hand, the disadvantages of
solve the problem of loosening caused by ultrasonic microdrilling are as follows:
vibration. If the tool material is soldered before it is
fabricated into a microtool, the completed tool setting is free (1) Straightness of product
from the low accuracy of soldering. This sequence can be Machined holes are often inclined because the
achieved by introducing on-the-machine tool preparation already-machined part of the hole influences on the
that takes place after fixing the raw material on the machine orientation of the drill. In order to avoid inclination, correct
head [59-631. By introducing this system, the improvement positioning is necessary when the drill tip begins to cut the
in total machining accuracy is so remarkable that it has led workpiece. If the tip position shifts by even a small distance
to the machining of holes with dimensions of around 20vm, from the target center of the hole, the drill bends to follow a
while the application in conventional systems has been certain angle guided by the hole which the drill itself
limited to 100vm. produces.

(2) Applying vibration to the workpiece (2) Limitation of material

A high-precision rotatiodfeed mechanism is Very hard or brittle materials are difficult to
essential for most machine tools. The introduction of a machine. A diamond drill with small depth of cut (or slow
vibration mechanism such as that in USM is, therefore, an feed) may be a solution to this problem; however, it is
idea contrary to the concept of micromachining. One of the difficult to suppress completely the brittle chipping of the
solutions to this problem is to attach the vibration workpiece and the breakage of microdrills.
mechanism to the workpiece side [57.This will cause little
problem in terms of accuracy because a transducer can Microdrilling is capable of fabricating holes
simply be inserted between the worktable and the several tens of micrometers in size for practical applications
workpiece. Such a setup enables the use of a universal, [46, 65, 661.
 Other types of products such as grooves, (1) Formation of inclined walls or tapered holes is more
cavities and 3D convex shapes may be fabricated when a difficult.
micro-endmill is used instead of a microdrill [46, 56, 66-68]. (2) Choice of materials is narrow, while WEDM can
In such cases, the machining force exerk a larger influence machine most metals and alloys.
on accuracy because the main direction of the force is (3) Lead time is longer because it requires the use of masks.
perpendicular to the tool axis. Consequently, it is not suitable for small-series production.
Microturning for producing micropins is possible
but is more difficult to realize than the other applications 4.6 Micromoldinglmicrocasting [78-841
described above. The reason for this is the deformation of In many manufacturing cases, the final objective
the workpiece. This is similar to the case of micro- is mass production. Replicating processes such as molding
endmilling, however the workpiece in microturning is often and casting are most suitable to meet this objective. The
more elastic than the tool in micro-endmilling. Diameters requirement for applying these processes to
larger than lOOvm is the practically applicable range of micromachining is that a micromold insert must be
microturning. prepared. The micromold insert can be prepared with other
It is possible to fabricate another kind of micromachining processes such as EDM, LBM, USM and
microparts using conventional ultraprecision turning. After cutting.
cutting microsteps on the surface of a plate, microparts can In these processes, the necessary conditions for
be cut out by other methods such as WEDM or grinding. As micromachining described in section 2 are satisfied in the
a result, micropark with microsteps can be fabricated [69, mold-making stage. However, some other considerations
701. are requested for satisfactory replication.
Fly cutting [71] is basically a method for cutting The most important requirement is that the mold
grooves. When multiple grooves are cut in different must be evacuated before molding, because proper venting
directions, the remaining part can form microconvex during molding is not possible from such microcavities.
shapes such as rectangular columns. Compared to pin Although the dimensions of the products are
making by turning, this method is advantageous in that thin precisely specified during the process, some deformation
products are not influenced by the machining force, usually occurs after demolding. The causes include release
because the machining force is mainly exerted on the rigid of compression stress, temperature change, chemical
base material and not directly on the microcolumn. post-reaction and shrinkage by sintering. However, the
Fly cutting is particularly useful for producing a deformation rate does not change much in repeated
large number of microcolumn arrays. Micro convex shapes operations. This enables appropriate correction of the
such as pyramids may also be fabricated. micromold design.
Metal injection molding (MIM) and ceramic
4.5 LlGA injection molding (CIM) are recently developed methods [81,
LlGA is a process that combines photoetching 841. A mixture of metal or ceramic powder and binder is
and electrical plating. In the first step, a deep etching injected into the mold. After molding, the demolded product
pattern is made in a photoresist after exposure to is debinded and sintered, and a metal or ceramic product is
synchrotron radiation (SR) through a patterned mask. In the finally obtained. In these methods, the particle size of the
etched grooves, a metal is electrically plated. Finally, the powder must be negligibly small compared with the size of
plated part is demolded as a metal product. the mold. This requirement corresponds to the requirement
This technique can basically produce patterns of small UR in other processes.
with high, straight walls. Since the horizontal section of the As an extension of conventional investment
product does not change in relation to the vertical position, casting, microcasting is also possible [80]. An injection-
these kinds of shapes are often called 2.5-dimensional molded, plastic micropart can be used as a model. In the
shapes. ceramic mold replicated from the model, a metallic resin is
Owing to the straightness and high resolution of filled and demolded after cooling.
SR which is a light in the X ray range, a high-aspect-ratio
product with high horizontal resolution of submicron range 4.7 Micro-ECM (electrochemical machining) [85, 861
is obtainable [ 7 7 . Electrochemical machining (ECM) is based on
Although the materials that can be electroplated the electrochemical dissolution of a metal. In conventional
are limited to metals, the wide freedom in patterning leads ECM, the machining shape is specified by the shape of the
to a wide range of applications. electrode, similar to the case of EDM or USM. However,
LlGA competes with WEDM because they target similar even when an electrolyte with very small throwing power is
types of products. Compared to WEDM, the main used, dissolution occurs in an area wider than that facing
advantages and disadvantages of LlGA are as follows. the electrode. This characteristic is not suitable for
Advantages: micromachining.
(1) Narrower space in the pattern is possible. However, ECM has an invaluable advantage,
(2) Surface of vertical wall is smoother. that is, the machined surface is very smooth and there are
(3) Batch process can cope better with mass production no layers affected by machining. This makes micro-ECM
Disadvantages: suitable for smoothing micro-metallic products [87]. In order
to adjust the UR suitable for microremoval, a short pulse For example, WEDG or microgrinding can be used to
and a low current are required. The low current can also be fabricate micropunches, and micro EDM or micro-USM can
realized by using a high-resistance electrolyte. be used to fabricate microdies.
Some trials were conducted using an electrolyte The second problem is more difficult. Therefore,
jet as the microtool instead of a metal tool [86]. A high- the realization of micropunching depends on the
speed jet can localize electrochemical dissolution and this development of a system that ensures easy setting of
enables the machining of microindentations with controlled microtools.
dimensions by switching the current synchronously to the One of the possible solutions is to introduce the
movement of the workpiece. concept of on-the-machine tool fabrication. A system in
When the STM (scanning tunneling microscope) which a micropunch and a microdie are fabricated in
technique is used in combination with ECM, microgrooves sequence on a punching machine would realize a punch-
with submicron width can be realized. This is due to the fact die set with uniform clearance. This type of equipment can
that the removal in ECM is basically an atom-by-atom achieve the punching of microholes, owing to the
phenomenon. adjustable clearance between the punch and the die with
an accuracy of around 1pm.
4.8 Microgrinding [56, 72, 881 Any effective method for fabricating a die set for
Grinding has been widely applied for machining micropunching with multiple punches and dies has not
pins and grooves with small dimensions. The main reason been developed.
for this is that the UR of grinding is small because cutting is
realized by means of micrograins. However, in the field of 4.10 Other processes
micromachining, it is not always a superior method Since the basic requirements for miniaturization
compared to the methods introduced above. One of the in machining processes are simple, as described in section
technological problems is the fact that the tool must be 2, there are many other promising methods. Among them,
made up of an abrasive and a matrix. When the tool size is processes that are based on addition and/or a combination
very small, the grain size cannot be ignored; this leads to of addition and removal phenomena are important
certain difficulties in forming the precise shape of the candidates for future applications [91-941.
grinding tool. SL (stereolithography) is one of the rapidly
Microgrinding can be applied to the fabrication of advancing methods based on the principle of lamination.
micropins and microgrooves, where a grinding wheel with Various types of SL methods have been investigated for
large diameter can be used for such application. The only micro-applications [95-1011. Among them, polymerization
requirement is to reduce the thickness of the grinding wheel with laser beam is the most advanced. Using the method
to the required resolution of the product, for example, the called two-photon micro-SL, the resolution of generated
width of the groove. The thickness of tens of micrometer patterns has already reached the order of tenths of
order is available so far, and correspondingly narrow micrometers [ I 011.
grooves are reasonable targets of this method. For more efficient production a system using
The recent development in the fabrication mask-generator display has been developed [98]. However,
technology of grinding tools has led to the application of the development of this system still remains in the two-
grinding in the fabrication of 2D or 3D microcavities in a dimensional level, although the ability of high resolution
system similar to mechanical- or EDM-milling. In this case, suggests its future development for actual 3D
a tool with a microsized tip is used. Because of the microfabrication.
considerable grinding force, the aspect ratio of the tool has The combination of WEDG, WECG (wire
to be low. Therefore, deep microholes or deep, narrow electrochemical grinding) and electroforming (or
cavities are not promising targets of microgrinding. The electroplating) presents a unique system for fabricating a
machinable shapes are almost the same as those in milling nozzle with a high-aspect-ratio microhole [87, 102, 1031. In
by mechanical cutting. this system, the inside shape of the hole is realized on the
Very small grains are essential for microgrinding pre-fabricated core by WEDG. This offers a wide variation
tools. Submicron-order grains of diamond, WC or CBN are of hole shape in the nozzle, which is formed by
desirable for realizing good product geometry. electroplating the core. The application of WECG improves
the surface smoothness of the core and, consequently, the
4.9 Micropunching [89, 901 inside wall of the nozzle hole.
Punching is the most popular method for
fabricating holes for mass production. In order to introduce 5 APPLICATIONS
this method into micromachining, two major problems must In this section, examples of products of recent
be solved: micromachining technologies are introduced.
(1) Microsized punch and die are necessary.
(2) Micropunch and microdie must be set with 5.1 Holes
uniform clearance. Microholes are the most basic products of
The first problem can be solved by applying micromachining. Regarding the size of the hole, or its
appropriate micromachining technologies described above. diameter, 200-300pm is commonly found in various daily
produds. For example, holes with such diameters are
mechanically drilled in printed circuit boards. Fuel injedion
nozzles are also mechanically drilled or EDMed. Recently,
the target has shifted to diameter or size smaller than
IOOpm, even for such commonly used products. Recent
advancement of major processes is represented by the
following examples.
.Commercial micro-EDM machines are already
available for fabricating 05pm holes in metals and alloys
(Figure 2).
.Holes of 05pm were machined in quartz glass
and silicon by USM [5T](Figure 3).
. A plastic pipe with a 01.8pm hole was
fabricated by SL of conventional type. Fig. 2 Microholes fabricded by EDM.
* Using LIGA, 03pm holes were fabricated for a
50-pm-thick nickel filter.
* A punching system with the omthe-machine
preparation of punch and die achieved the fabrication of
050pm holes in polyimide sheet p9].
* By mechanical drilling, 070pm holes with a 2&
pm-thick wall behveen them were successfully fabricated

* Excimer lasers produced multiple holes of

around 40pm diameter [3].
* FS lasers were applied in the fabrication of
F'ig . 3 A microhole in quartz glass machined by USM.
nozzles with 025Opm burr-free holes [49]. Figure 4 shows
an application to fuel injection nozzles [50].
* The fabrication of a 05OOnm hole was s h o r n to
be possible using a FS laser equipped with a SNOM probe
1511.
These holes will meet the demand for various
parts including fluidic filters, grids, biemedical filters, ink-jet
printer noezles, fuel injection noezles, optical apertures,
high-pressure orifices, standard defects for testing material,
micropipettes. pneumatic sensors and manipulators, guides
for wire-bonders and spinning noezles.
More sophisticated holes are oRen necessary for
spinning nozzles. Variation of the cross-sectional shape
gives different charaderistics to the fiber produced. Using Fig. 4 A fuel injedion noezle cap A t h holes
WEDM with a 030pm wire, T-shaped, crossshaped and mactined by an FS laser [50].
more complicated sections with widths of 50pm range are
machined in stainless steel substrates [48]. Sinking EDM is
also applied, where a silver electrode shaped by extrusion
is used. When Ni is used as a substrate, LIGA is applied to
produce a nozzle with 5-pm-wide slits.

5.2 Pins
A 08pm tungsten pin was fabricated in 1965 by
mechanical grinding [ 4 q .
With recent technologies, particularly with
WEDG, pins with several micrometers of diameter are
easily produced with good reproducibility [31, 341 (Figure
5).
Not only cylindrical pins, but also various types
of micropins with dimensions ranging from 10pm to several
hundreds micrometers can be fabricated by WEDG. Fig. 5 A 04.5pm micropin fabricated by WEDG.
 Figure 6 shows a tool for microlapping fabricated
by turning [55].

5.3 Slits and grooves

Grooves whose cross section is of the
micrometer order were machined by ultraprecision diamond
turning [69].
.Milling with a 0200pm micro-endmill produced
50-pm-wide and 400-pm-high fins on a tool steel plate [56].
Cutting of SMA (shape memory alloy) is also possible using
the same type of setting [6s].
.Microstructures are produced by cutting with a Fig. 7 Microstructures produced by cutting
microendmill [ 5 q (Figure 7). M t h a microendmill [56].
.By using FS lasers, slits and grooves of sub-
100pm order width were fabricated in various materials .A micregear pump was fabricated by LlGA [41]
including SMA and copper [8] (Figure 8). (Figure 9).
* Very precise suspensions and beams for * SL realized 012pm microgears of urethane
sensor devices such as accelerometers and resonators are acrylate [ I O I ] .
the extension of slit fabrication. Suspensions 35pm wide * A silicon microstructure was fabricated by EDM
and beams with 80pm x 80pm cross section were [I31 (Figure 10).
fabricated by EDM [15, 161. * Using the Uniform Wear Method, a mold for a
* A resonance device with microcolumns set 500-pm-long microcar model was produced and replicated
about 30pm apart was fabricated b y mechanical grinding plastic models were obtained [I81 (Figure 11).
1561. Microturbine blades of 600pm diameter were
* Grooves 50pm wide and having a free contour fabricated by SL [ 9 q .
were mechanically ground with a pencil-shaped grinding An air-turbine rotor of 400pm diameter was
tool [ 5 q . fabricated by EDM p9].
* The most precise part of the magnetic head for Microturbine rotors are fabricated by SL [ I O O ]
digital video cameras was fabricated by EDM. A 12.5*1- (Figure 12).
pm-wide wall was obtained by using the side of a 020pm 4 A chamber for microturbine with 0 80pm
cylindrical electrode, and semi-cylindrical grooves were
formed on the both sides of the wall. This is an example of
application for large-series parts production.
Channels 60pm wide 900pm deep for micro
reaction systems were produced by EDG (eledrodischarge
grinding) [41]. a type of EDM with the grinding-like motion
of the electrode.

5.4 3 0 products
Most of the methods introduced in this paper are
applicable for three-dimensional micromachining.
The folloMng are some examples of recent
Fig. 8 Microslits in a titanium tube cut by
applications.
.Microgears were subjected to EDM using a
FS laser [S]..

copper electrode fabricated by LlGA [45].

300µm
Fig. 9 Micro-gear pump with 0 596pm rotors
Fig. 6 A microlapping tool made by turning [55]. fabricded by LlGA [21].
 Microindentations for reducing friction were
machined on cutting tool surfaces using an excimer laser
[=I.
Similar applications are possible by means of
electrochemical jet machining on bearing surface [86].
Using the inserts made by LIGA, stepped gears
with details of 80pm were made of carbonyl iron and AI,O,
by injection molding [81].
MIM fabricated metal microstructures [84]
(Figure 16).
A ceramic microoptical bench was also
fabricated by injection molding [84].

6 FUTURE TRENDS
'Technology' and 'request to technology'
Fig. 10 A silicon microstnrcture fabricated by
EDM [13]. influence each other. As a result, the front of technology
advances as the front of request to technology moves to a
higher level. As regards micromachining, the dimensions of
the product are one of the good indicators of the levels of
technology and request. However, as shown in Figure 16,
the level of request from the industry varies widely. The
development of technology OMS much to the high end of
the request. Consequently, the average level of the request
is always behind the front of technology. From the survey
conducted by the author, it was found that the front of
200µm
200pm
technology is located around 5pm for most of the
Fig
Fig.. 11
11 A
A micromold
micromold fabricated
fabricakd by
by EDM
EDM and
and a
a machining methods discussed here. On the other hand, the
re
replicated plastic model. peak of the front of request seems to be around 100pm.
When we think about our desire for a more
comfortable and safer life in the future, all product are
requested to be of higher quality and higher reliability, and

Fig. 12 Microturbine rotors fabricated

by SL [IOO].
ventilation holes was fabricated by USM [61]. Fig. 13 A forming tool for components of fibre optic
Another example of turbine housing is a systems, machined by ultra-precision milling [103].
product of casting, using a PMMA lost model and a
replicated ceramic mold [79].
Microstructures with sub-l0pm details and
optically flat surfaces were machined by ultra-precision
milling with a diamond tool [lo41 (Figure 13).
Ultra-precision milling also realized a three-
dimensional curved surface with microsized details [lo51
(Figure 14).
3D curved, 50-pm-thick ribs were produced by
WEDM [37, 381.
Microforceps and microscissors made of Ni-Ti
SMA were cut out from a 0390 material by WEDM with a
030pm wire electrode [42] (Figure 15).
Pyramids 250pm high and with a 100pm x
1OOpm base were machined by fly cutting [66]. Microprisms 200µm
are possible applications [71]. Fig. 14 An example of 3Dmicromilling.
 sincerest gratitude for their cooperation.
The contributors are as follows.
(* --- CIRP member)
E. Brinksmeier*
K.-J. Chun (Seoul National University)
B. J. Davies*
M. Geiger*
R. J. Hocken*
S.-G. Kim (Daewoo Electronics Co., Ltd.)
F. Klocke*
J.-P. Kruth*
Fig. 15 A microforceps machined by WEDM [42] M. Kunieda*
G. N. Levy*
N. Mohri*
T. Moriwaki*
T. Nakagam*
R. Neugebauer (Fraunhofer IW)
K. P. Rajurkar*
D. Reynaerh (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven)
T. Sata*
B. M. Schumacher*
P. S. Sheng*
S. Shimada*
H. K. Tonshop
E. Uhlmann rechnische Universitat Berlin)
M. Weck*
K. Weinert*
Fig. 16 Metal products with 190-pm-wide, 500- R. Wertheim*
pm-high structures, fabricated by MIM [a]. H. Weule*
It is with regret, however, that all pieces of
valuable information could not be included in this paper
should be harmless as well. In order to realize this, because of the limit of time and space. The author hopes
microscopic consideration in the design of products should that the readers were able to get an image of the state of
be given importance. This will promote the level of request the art of micromachining to a certain extent even with such
to an even higher level. limited information, and will respond to requests for detailed
In near future, many requests would concentrate information as much as he can.
around the size of 50pm, and the front end of technology
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