3D microfabrication



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3D Microfabrication relates to the engineering of bulk solids on the micrometre or submicrometre scale. Although the term chemical vapor deposition) are not considered to be 3D methods. Conceptually, a 3D microfabricated object should be created with three-dimensional resolution and can ideally be freely manipulated (i.e. can be fabricated without any necessary attachments to substrates).

Techniques of microfabrication

Several radically different approaches to 3D microfabrication are under development.

Semiconductor fabrication methods

Although most semiconductor wafer-based microfabrication does not truly qualify as 3D in this sense, the processes used can certainly be leveraged to create 3D microfabricated objects, for example:

See also: surface micromachining

Printing methods

Many groups are investigating the possibility of creating 3D objects by building up layer upon layer of material by printing methodologies. This approach is already used successfully on larger scales for rapid prototyping. Techniques include:

  • Inkjet printing
  • Microcontact printing

See also: 3D printing

2-photon polymerization

In the 2-photon solvents. Objects with feature sizes of less than 100 nanometers can easily be created. [1]

See also: 3D optical data storage

Self-assembly

Techniques of George Whitesides to create micrometre-scale objects and devices.

Applications of 3D microfabrication

 
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "3D_microfabrication". A list of authors is available in Wikipedia.