Fabrication of cylindrical micro-components using laser scan lithography and electrolytic etching of stainless steel pipes

Abstract

A new fabrication method of cylindrical microcomponents was investigated using laser scan lithography and electrolytic etching. First, net-like patterns were formed by repeating delineations of helical patterns crossing each other on fine pipes of stainless steel with an outer diameter of 100 μm and a wall thickness of 20 μm. The pipes were coated with 4-μm thick negative resist, and four couples of helical patterns were delineated for making the net-like patterns. Next, the pipes were etched in an aqueous electrolyte of sodium chloride and ammonium chloride. As a result, net-like pipes with multi-holes were successfully fabricated. Etched surfaces and sidewalls were smooth, and it was verified that the new method would be applicable to fabricating various cylindrical micro-components with hundreds of nanometer range roughness and accuracy. The technology will be particularly useful for developing special syringe needles, stents for supporting damaged blood vessels, and multi-hole tools for supplying air pressure to stent balloons.978-1-4799-5622-7/$31.00 ©2014 IEEE

Synchronous scan-projection lithography on overall circumference of fine pipes with a diameter of 2 mm

“…As another type of exposure system for patterning on cylindrical specimens, laser-scan delineating systems have already been developed. [27][28][29][30][31] However, a long time is required for delineating complicated patterns in large fields because the laser beam must be scanned serially. In comparison, in the case of the new exposure system, the exposure time is almost constant and does not depend on the complexity of the patterns.…”

Lithography onto Surfaces of Fine-Diameter Pipes Using Rotary Scan-Projection Exposure

“…To answer the requirement, various researches on developing lithography systems for replicating or delineating patterns on cylindrical materials were carried out [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. The authors also developed laser-scan exposure systems onto fine wires and pipes with diameters of 40-500 µm [8][9][10][11][12][13]. It was demonstrated that very precise patterns were arbitrarily delineated on surfaces of such very fine cylindrical materials.…”

“…It was demonstrated that very precise patterns were arbitrarily delineated on surfaces of such very fine cylindrical materials. In addition, fabrication processes of fine cylindrical micro-components such as coil springs and pipes with multi-holes were also developed [8][9][10][11] [13].…”