Room Temperature Embossing/Punching Process at a Glance: New Evidence for Potential Industrial Applications

Abstract

The European project MULTILAYER is focused on the mass-production of micro devices by using several different layers which are individually structured and treated and then ultimately assembled. Among the main goals of this project, is the development of 3D structuring of thin tapes which contain nanosized or very fine grained powders as well as tapes with UV-curable binder systems by means of almost room temperature embossing. Such a new process should allow achieving high resolution ( < 100 microns), tight tolerances and high reproducibility of structuring. Starting with planar tools for embossing testing parts, the technique will be further improved for using structured rolls for demonstrating a high throughput process. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to describe the recent solutions developed at CEA for performing room temperature embossing. For this purpose alumina and zirconia tapes, developed within the consortium, were used. A first room temperature embossing system will be here presented. Preliminary experiments with systematic basic tests have been carried out in order to determine a functional concept of room temperature embossing process. The main conditions have included the tool motion and structure, the embossing temperature, the surface treatment of prototypes tools, the applied pressure, and the intrinsic parameters of the used green tapes. A peculiar attention has been paid on the processing time that has to be shortened as possible. Keywords: Ceramic tapes, 3D topography, Surface structuring, Short process, Room temperature embossing, Punching, Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems, Embossing System, CAD Drawings