Microfabrica Pushes Microdevice Design to New Heights
EFAB(r) technology now enables cost-efficient 3-D microdevices millimeters tall
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Burbank, CA - September 7, 2004 - Microfabrica Inc., a leader in microdevice and microsystem fabrication, has extended the capability of its EFAB(r) micro-manufacturing process to offer structures with layer thicknesses of 2 to 50 microns.
Building on EFAB technology's unique ability to fabricate three-dimensional microdevices by depositing many tens of micron-precise metal layers, the new capability allows designers to build taller devices and systems quickly and cost-effectively. The thick-layer capability benefits a wide variety of applications including inkjet printhead nozzles, inertial measurement units, magnetic microsystems and safing/arming/fuzing devices.
Compared to other micro-manufacturing techniques, the thick-layer capabilities of the EFAB process enable an innovative combination of the geometric flexibility of surface micromachining and the high aspect ratio of the LIGA(1) technique, at a significantly lower cost. Unlike the LIGA technique, however, EFAB technology is not restricted to single-layer designs with simple extruded shapes; it allows many tens of layers of varying-thicknesses to be stacked on top each other to fabricate complex and truly 3-D microdevices.
"Users looking for high aspect ratio manufacturing technology, such as LIGA, have traditionally struggled with high costs, 2-D geometric limitations, long production time and limited availability," said Vacit Arat, president and CEO of Microfabrica. "With the new thick-layer capabilities of the EFAB process, Microfabrica can offer a practical, cost-efficient alternative for high aspect ratio microdevice design."
"The ability to fabricate thin structures such as springs, cantilevers and diaphragms within the same device as thicker structures, such as spacers, anchors or proof masses, has always been a problem with conventional micromachining technology. By combining the high aspect ratio advantages of LIGA with the geometric flexibility of surface micromachining, EFAB has become the most versatile microfabrication technology available, making previously unrealized products and applications possible for the first time," said Chris Bang, vice president of design and applications engineering at Microfabrica.
Microfabrica's thick-layer process was developed with the support of a Small Business Innovation Research Phase II grant from the National Science Foundation. The new capabilities developed under this grant have been integrated with Microfabrica's standard EFAB process and are being made available to customers for immediate use.
(1) LIGA - 'Lithographie, Galvanoformung und Abformung' or Lithography, Electroplating and Molding - is a type of high aspect ratio micromachining
About Microfabrica Inc.
Founded in 1999, Microfabrica Inc. is a leader in microdevice manufacturing. The company's breakthrough proprietary EFAB(r) technology brings a new paradigm to micro-fabrication, offering unprecedented flexibility, ease-of-use and quick time-to-market in a wide range of applications including wireless, consumer electronics, automotive and military/aerospace. EFAB is the first manufacturing technology that can fabricate intricate, truly three-dimensional microdevices by depositing many tens of precision metal layers. The technology opens up a world of possibilities for complex microdevices and microsystems previously impossible or impractical to manufacture using other approaches.
Microfabrica is headquartered in Burbank, California.
