A

ELSEVIER

Sensor~ and Actua~ A 5"/(1996) 159-164

Micro ultrasonic machining and its applications in M E M S

Xi-Qing Sun i, T. Masuzawa, M. Fujino
Insritule of lndastrlaI Sc[nc. O~iversity of To~o. 7-22-1 Ro~ongi. Tokyo 106. J a ~

Abstract
A combined machining method, micro ultrasonic machining (micro-USM), is proposed here for the fabrication of three-dimension~ (3D)
microstructales with high asl~Ct latios. Wire elecB'o-discharge g~nd!~g {W~DG) and eleeU-o-dhch~ge machining (BDM) arc combined
onto the USM machine to provide a capability of making co-axial microtools for USM and, thereafter, n,~croholes as small as 15 /~m io
diameter and a variety o f high-aspect-ratio microstmctarcs on brittle, materials have been achieved for the first lin[~:by optimizing the ultr'~mc
n achining processes. The combination of WEDG, EDM and USM on a micm-USM machine also makes possible the const~ction of complete
2 D micromachines within one total manufuctunng process. With this methyl, a 3D micro center-pin bearing air turbine has been successfully
deve[opnd. The design, fabrication and testing issues are described in this paper.
Xeyword.: Electm.d|sch~'ge machining: Micmeleetmmechanicalsystems; Micro a[tr~nic machining;Wire declro-discharge gnnding

1. I n t r o d u c t i o n
The emergence o f M E M S (microelectromcchanicaJ s y ~
terns) has strongly enhanced the use of newer and harder
work materials, namely, brittle materials, and their micromachining technologies. Micro ultrasonic machining (microU S M ) is such a technology that enables brcakthroughs in
m a k i n g almost any three-dimensional microstructure with
high aspect ratio on most materials, particularly on brittle
materials including silicon, borosilicate glass, silicon nitride,
quartz and ceramics, where the most well-known silicon planar photo mierofabrication atld some lraditional precision
mieromachining methods, such as micro electrodiseharge
machining ( m i c r o - E D M ) , L I G A and excimer laser drilling,
are very restricted either in machinable shapes or in machin*
able materials [ !--4].
Ultrasonic machining is the use of tool ultrasonic'vibration.
When combined with ~ favomable abrasive slurry, U S M creates desired accurate cavities o f any shape through the impact
grinding of fine grains. Unlike micro-EDM, exeimer laser
drilling and plasma etching, the ultrasonic machining process
is non-thermal, non-chemical and non-electrical, anO titus c,ha
produce a high-quality surface finish. However, as a tool
machining technology, conventional U S M is not capable, for
instance, of drilling microholes smaller than 100 ~ m for lack
of corresponding co-axial microtools. T o this end acombincd
I Pare~nt~ddcess: M i c r o e l ~ i c s Rese~h Center. New Jelse2~[nsatute
of Technology. Room 200 MIC. 323 King Blvd. Newark. NJ 07102. USA.
0924-42471961515.00 ~ 1996 Elsevier Science $.A. All tights leSet'v~l
PIIS0924-4247(96)01350-7

machine cxploiting wire electro-discharge grinding

( W E D G ) , E D M and U S M functions itself has been developed. The co-axial mictotools arc prepared by the .x~.+s:,-L'~G/
E D M combination first, end then applied directly in ultrasonic machining without any tool chucking pi'oblera.
Micre-USM is a c o m b i n e d micromachining method capable o f machining various 3D microparrs of almost an kimi of
materials. So it makes possible the machining and assembly
o f complete 3D mieromnchines on the same machine within
one total manufacturing process [ 1,5). A s an applic~ion, a
micro air tm'bine made o f multilnyers is introduced and
constructed.

2. Set-up d ~ c g i p t i o n
The essentiaL~ o f tl~ micromachining system are given in
Fig. 1. where mainly W E D G , E D M and USM and their
related controlling and positioning units are shown. The
W E D G unit is fixed by the machine body for grinding fine
electrodes [ 2,6]. The U S M unit main13" includes an electronic
generator, a wansducer package, a horn-tool combination and
a force sensor with a ~w.solution of IO m g and response time
o lq ms. The operation frequency of the transducer is 40
~-Iiz and the working power is variable from 1.0 to 15 W.
The h e m is designed in a cylindrical shape without a stroke
amplification function. The horn-tool bonding is done by
common soldering. The workpic for micro-EDM and
micro-USM is attached to the worktable, normally by chem-

160

X.-Q Sfzn et a[, / Sen,~ors and Act,sators A 57 (1996) 159-164

Fig. I. Configurationof micro ultrasohic machine: A. processingcircuits for

WEDG and/~DM; B, driving and positioning uni[; C, electronic oscil:ation
gcneralo~; D, ui~:tmaic weight display,; M I. M2 and M3. tnuluJ~ ful .~-.yand z-gules rnovemem; M4, fooler for c-axis ;otatlon; T, Iransducer; W,
WEIX3 unit: AEU. EDM and USM woJrktahle;F, force sensor; h. horn; l,
lnicro-loel.
ically gluing to obtain high combination strength. The tool is
driven by motors M1 and M3 along the x-axis and z-axis,
respectively. It rotates with the aid of M4. The worktable is
m o v e d by M 2 along the y-axis. The movement precisions of
M I , M2 and M3 are all 0.05 p.m.

3. M a c h i n i n g principles
T h e micro-USM is mainly divided into two stages as
shown in Fig. 2. The W E D G / E D M combination is used to
generate co-axial microtools first, with which micro-USM o f
Lrittle materials is then carried out.
Some special features o f m i c r o - U S M over the conventional
methods include:
(1) W E D G is able to produce many kinds o f micropins,
such as cylindrical, taper and rectangular shapes, with high
aspect ratios easily as shown in Fig. 3. With this method, a
micropin as small as 5 ~ m in diameter can be machined for
lots o f applications [ 2,71- Furthermore, the combination with
E D M provides much stronger capability of machining complex 3D microparts, e.g., a mierogear as shown in Fig. 4. This
undoubtedly assures the feasibility o f micro-USM.
(2) The central axes of tool body and tool rotation are
automat/cally kept c o m m o n after cutting the discrepancy part
by W E D G .

Fig. 4. SEM pholograph of3D miclogeat.

(3) W E D G , E D M and U S M all I~long to one modular
manufacturing process, so the problems o f tool chucking arc
avoided in this work.

4. M a c h i n i n g speed
In micro-USM, first the volume of materiai ~ m o v c d per
blow is minimized, o r exactly speaking, the corresponding
machihkqg speed ( M S ) is lowered for the purpose o f obtaining high machLning accuracy and superior surface finish without large fractures. The MS can be expressed by a formula
taken from C o o k ' s work [ 8 ] :
MS =5.9HRt/2~rAll2f

I001
for

W ~

reveme ~1

t ~ } ~ l c r o , t o o l i0~'~p~&t to n

IcdC~OtO(}l

~M
t ~ t IR r ~gt rls rn ~ J t I*n g

Fig. 2. Micro-UgM pzoce~lur.

(I)

where H is the brittle fracture hardness o f the workpiece

material, R is the mean radius o f abrasive grains, cr is the
working load applied in the cutting zone, A is the amplitude
o f vibration, a n d f is the frequency of oscillation.
The abrasive gr~in is a key element o f USM, Commonly
used abrasives such as tungsten carbide, boron carbide, and
diamond are also ~t,~itable for mioro-USM o f brittle materials.
The abrasive grain size Im'gely affects the machining speed
as in Eq. ( I ) and the surface finish. In our experimcms, 0.58
p.m sized tungsten carbide abrasiveswere adopted and proved

x . . ~ . San et a~. I Sttsors a u d A c t , ~ t o r x A 5 7 ( t g c ~ 159--1~4

to be rational. The abrasive grains were uniformly suspended

in clean water as a working slurry; 50% concentration of it
w a s optimal for efficient raicromaehining in the experiments.
The instant motion o f the mierotool impacts the abrasive
grains into the workpieca and thus etches a w a y the volumes
o f material. Note that a tool rotation speed higher than 300
rpm can increase such a function m u c h more efficiently since
a more ideal distribution o f abrasives on the etching surface
o f the workpiece is approached whet) boriug ekcnlar holes.
T h e vibration amplitude ( A ) and the working load ( ~ ) in
Eq. ( 1 ) also play significant roles in micro-USM. The optimal amplitude tango in use w a s from 1.0 to 3.5 ~ m , and the
load values were no more than 0.1 m g f ~ m - z.
Corresponding to the aforementioned conditions, the MS
tbr high-quality micro ultrasonic machining ranged from 2.0
1o 6,0/~m m i n - ~and, moreover, the lower the M S , the better
the surface finish. This does not mean that superior microm a c h i n i n g is only obtained at the sacrifice o f m u c h more
time. At first for the entrance machining a relative low M S is
necessary to avoid large fractures around the cutting edges;
later on, the working process can be accelerated by increasing
the working load and vibration amplitude.

~e

Fig. S. TyI~ca! longitudinal t~ol wear as a f~r.c1~c,a of t ~ diam,'car. Tool

v i b r a ~ a art~Cad. 2,0 t~.m.

$. T o o l w e a r

Tool wear is the m a j o r intrinsic drawback o f USM. Especially in micromachining with microtools, the longitudinal
tool wear, namely, the length shortening o f microtools for
boring mieroholes to a given depth, becomes more serious
and to s o m e extent determines the micromac hining accu racy.
in the expcciment stainless steel ( S U S - 3 1 6 ) , thoriated
tungsten and tungsten carbide were used as tool materials for
b e r i n g 5 0 / z m diameter mieroholas through a 150 p m thick
silicon wafer. The machining conditions Were: working load,
3 0 - 5 0 rag; vibration amplitude, 2.0/.tin; rotational speed,
300 rpm; abrasive, 0.58 bern, tungsten carbide; slurry coneantratien, 50%. T h e measured longitudinal tool wear values for
tungsten carbide, thoriated tungsten and SUS-316 were 26%,
7 9 % and 155% o f the depth o f the holes, respectively. It is
seen that the very popular tool materials in conventional
U S M , such as thoriated tungsten and stainless steel, are no
longer suitable for micromachining due to their large wear.
Fig. 5 illustrates the typical tool wear in length when boring
150 p.m deep holes on silicon dies with different tungsten
carbide tool diameters. A s can be seen, the tool wear increases
remarkably with a d ~ r e a s e in tool diameter.
The tool wear is also affected by ether parameters such as
vibration amplitude and working load. Howewer, in our
experiments, no obvious variation in tool wear w a s observed
within the limited working ranges for high-quality microUSM, i,e., 1,0-3.5 ~ m in vibration amplitude and no more
than O. 1 m g f p m - z in working load I91.
It is interesting that the mierotool after the micro-USM
process is m u c h smoother and brighter on its ground surface,
as shown in Fig. 6. This m e a n s that micro-U'SM m a y also he

Fig. 6. Mic~o~ool ~
40 ~m,

L~M. Tool martial, tm~gs~n c'm~~ diameter.

a good way o f obtaining

microparts.

superior surface finish for

6. M a e ~ a i n g q u a ~ t y
Surface roughness, out-of-roundness and taper ratio are
three important parameters for evaluating microhole quality.
The Mdewali surface roughness w a s about 0.2/~m using 0.58
p m tungsten carbide abrasive grains and, moreover', a
s m o t h e r machined surface results from the finer abrasive
grains. T h e out-of-roundness e f a microbole is defined here
as the deviation from a standard round hole and was measured
(o be below 1.0 ~ m . The taper ratio o f a mtcrohvlc, which
specifies the ratio o f the difference betv,,een the entrance and
the c x h diameters to the bole deplh, is related to the too[
diametxal wear and was measured as 5 % in this approach.
7. M a c h l u ; ~ g e x ~ m p l . ~
There are two ways o f achieving microstr~ctures en brittle
malerials. One is by directly duplicating the convex mierotool

X.-Q. . ~

163

t al. I Senxors and Actuatory A 57 1996) 159-164

(a)

Fig. 12. 31) mici'ostructur on 300/~m thick { i ~ ) siliccm ~ub~uatc.

an air channel and an air inlet hole (see Fig. 1 3 ( a ) ) . The

second layer o f 200 p m thick stainless steel was then glued
chemically onto the base layer (see Fig. 13(b) ). Meanwhile
the 3D center-pin bearing o f tungsten carbide was prepared
by WEDG.

S u b s e q u e n t l y t h e c e n t e r p i n w a s s e l f - a l i g n e d to

the chamber center and used as an E D M tool to drill both the

base layer and the second layer. W h e n they ",vere punched
through, the discharge polarity was switched o f f a n d the center pin w a s dircctly inserted downwards until a ccrtahl thleshold value w a s detected by the force sensor. Then it was
stopped and twisted to break at the neck part (see
F i g , 1 3 ( c ) ) , and the rough break surface was flattened by
subsequent EDM. After that W E D G / E . D M was carried out
again for th6 self-aligned machining o f the four-pole rotor
around the center pin (see Fig, 13(d) ). The whole rotor fell
down to the small ring bushing along the center pin as soon
as the last rotor pole w a s made. Ultrasonic welding was titan
applied to insert the center pin into the base layer to a certain
depth, at which both the structure dimensions and the p i n plato combination strength were satislicd (see Fig. 1 3 ( e ) ) .
Finally the tifird layer o f 150 p,m Ihick glass w a s glued onto
the second layer as a cover for the microturbine, on which an
outlet mieroholo w a s bored by micro-USM (see Fig, 13 (f) ).
Fig. 14 s h o w s an S E M photograph o f the m i c r o a i r turbine.
The overall dimensions arc 8 5 0 / z m hei[ght and 950 ~ m diam-

Fig. 13. Micra ccntcx-pin ~ g

r turbine fabrication sequence.

Fig. 14. SF~Mp h o o ~ - ~ of fl~cmicro ccmer-pi a b c ~ n~ air lurblnc t without

th~ g l a ~ cover}. Ccr,~r l~n ~tRm~. 70 /~m; four-pete rotor dian~cter.

350 tzm: c ~ m ~ diarl~.tcx.~

,~|n.

164

X,-Q, S*m el a I Sct*svr.~ and Acluutors A .i7 (1996l 159--164

eter (including the inlet and outlet sizes). The rotor and its
bearing are 350 ptm and 70 p.m in diameter, respectively. As
evident, the S A M M A e d micro air turbine is a truly 3D micromachine with high aspect ratio. Tests were performed with
compressed nitrogen gas. Rotation was easily act ivated as the
gas blew into the inlet. The measured maximum rotation
speed is up to I 1 O00 rpm. Unlike the It-processed 2D micro
air turbine, the S A M M A e d micromachine has great reliability
duc to its long lifetime, low wear and high slability.

9. Conclusions
A manufacturing system combining WEDG, EDM and
U S M functions has been developed. The combination of
W E D G and EDM is capable o f machining co-axial microtools and hence the m i e r o - U S i of brittle materials has
become feasible. Microholes as small as 15 p,m in diameter
and some complex shapes such as inclined holes, square holes
and 3D chambers have been achieved for the first time.
Some aspects concerning the micro ultrasonic machining
quality and economics were studied. The optimal micromachining speeds are in the range 2 . 0 ~ . 0 H,m rain ~. Tungsten
carbide is a suitable tool material for miero-USM. The tool
wear increases with a decrease in tool diameter. The sidewall
roughness, out-of-roundness and taper ratio ofmicroholes are
0.2 ptm, 1.0 p,m and 5%, respectively.
A 3D micro air turbine made up of three layers was developed successfully on the miero-USM machine with the combination o f W E D G , EDM and USM. The test results show
that the center-pin bearing micro air turbine works well and
its rotation speed is up to I I 000 rpm.

Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Dr H.H. Langen for his valuable
suggestions and Mr K. Egashira for his assistance during
micro-USM. One o f the authors was supported by the Japan
Society for the Promotion o f Science.

References
l l] X.-Q Sun. T. Masuzawa and M. Fujino. Micro ultrasonic machining
and self-aligned multilayer raat:hining/o.~.semblytechnologies for 3D
relcromahJnes. Prec. ]EEE WorkMmp on Micro Electro Meclmnicol
Syxrem.~. San Diego, CA. USA. Feb. 1996. pp. 312-317.
[2] T. Masaki. K Kavata and T. Masuzawa. Micro electro-discharge
machiningand ils applications.Prec. IEEE Work.vhop on Micro Electro
Mechanical Symems. Nupa Valley, CA, USA, Feb. 1990, pp. 21-26.
[3] M.A l~domtandand D O Moore. Versatile performance of ultrasonic
nmchining.Ceram. Bull, 67 (lggs) 1045-1{147.
[4] P, Daxio, M,C. Carrozza, N, Crete, M,C. Moate,si and M. Caeca. Nontraditional technologies for reie.~o-fnbrication, a. Mierome~h,
Microeng., 5 (1995) f~-TI.
[ 5] H.H Langen,T. Masuzawaand M. Vujino.Self-alignedmachiningand
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tVorkMuip on Micro

Eleclra Mecha.ical Sysre#n.L AmMerdam,

Nelhedandv. Jan. 1995. pp. 250-255.

[0] T. Masuzawa, M. Fujino. K. Kohayashi and T. SusukL Wire electrodischaxge grinding for rnicrornachining,Atilt CII~P. 34 t 198S) 43l

434.

[71 3. Masuzawa. An approach to micromachiningthrough ntachine tool

technology. Prec. 2nd Inr, Syrup, OftMicromachh?e a~td H,man .t;t'ience.
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Biographies
X i - Q i n R Sun received his B.S., M,S. and Ph,D. degrees, all
from the Institute o f Microelectronics, Tsinghua University,
Beijing. China. in 1987, 1989, and 1993, reslxctively. From
1992 to 1994, he was employed as an assistanl professor in
the Institute o f Microelectronics, Tsinghua University. From
1994 to 1995, hc joined the Institute of Industrial Science,
the University of Tokyo, as a JSPS Postdoctoral Research
Fellow. Since 1995 he has worked in the Microelectronics
Research Center, Now Jersey Institute o f Technology, as a
senior research associate. His current research interests
include the design, fabrication and lcstin~ o f micro solid-state
integrated sensors and actuators, i E M S - r e l a t e d micromachining and mlcroassembly technologies.