Micromolding for three-dimensional metal microstructures using stereolithography of photopolymerized resin

Abstract

If micromachines can be produced with metal microstructures, their application field will be greatly expanded. We have proposed a metal micromolding method based on the stereolithography of photopolymerized resin. In this work, we report our recent successful development of three fundamental processes used in the micromolding method. The electroless plating of palladium with a purity of 93–97% was realized on photopolymerized resin with a view to realizing a shape memory alloy. An electrolytic grinding technique was examined for copper, and step-by-step grinding was realized for the first time using a NaCl solution. A copper replica was successfully extracted from a resin mold by using heat treatment. The results suggested that three-dimensional metal microstructures can be produced with micrometer order accuracy by using the micromolding method.