Experimental study on spray etching process in micro fabrication of lead frame

Abstract

The objective of this study is to obtain detailed information for the micro fabrication of lead frames by applying spray technology to wet etching process. Wet etching experiments were performed with different etching parameters such as injection pressure, distance from nozzle tip to etched substrate, nozzle pitch and etchant temperature. The characteristics of single and twin spray were measured to investigate the correlation between the spray characteristics and the etching characteristics. Drop size and velocity were measured by Phase-Doppler Anemometer (PDA). Four liquids of different viscosity were used to reveal the effects of viscosity on the spray characteristics. The results indicated that the shorter the distance from nozzle tip and the nozzle pitch, the larger etching factor became. The average etching factor had good positive correlation with average axial velocity and impact force. It was found that the etching characteristics depended strongly on the spray characteristics.