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30m Micro Components Shipped in Test Tube
01 Oct 2006
Building on the success of its photoelectro formed (PEF) nickel microparts, Tecan, this month, shipped an order for 30 million expoy micro parts - in a single test tube. Designers of micro-sized components and assemblies are increasingly looking for an alternative to metal parts, particularly for medical and pharmaceutical applications.
Weymouth based Tecan is employing SU8, a highly versatile epoxy, as an alternative to PEF nickel for micro-parts as it offers high chemical, thermal and mechanical stability - advantages which, for example, make it ideal for bio-science applications. The company can produce parts as pure SU8 epoxy, or as hybrid microstructures, manufactured from various material elements, including metals and epoxy, to enable new functionality such as integration with optoelectronic and micro-fluidic devices.
Tecan produces SU8 parts by a photolithography process with dimensions in the micron range, with sub micron tolerances possible. The ultra-accurate three-dimensional parts can be produced with 'holes' and 'lands' up to ten times thinner than their own height - an aspect ratio of 10:1. This allows the production of any combination of narrow holes, or lands, in deep substrates in close proximity. Large numbers of components are fabricated on a single sheet. This allows designers and developers to produce multiple parts with subtle design variations for design validation and prototyping.
Although laser and micro-milling techniques are capable of similar ratio levels, they do not necessarily produce smooth wall surfaces and do not always lend themselves to volume production in the same way as PEF.
Typical end-user applications include micro electromechanical systems (MEMS) and optical MEMS, sensors, actuators, bio-chips, micro gears and calibration tools.
www.tecan.co.uk
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