Precision Engineering 47 (2017) 546556

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Precision Engineering
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/precision

Investigation of plastic electrode tools for electrochemical machining

of silicon
Victor V. Lyubimov a, , Vladimir M. Volgin a , Ulrich Mescheder b , Inna V. Gnidina a ,
Alexey S. Ivanov b
a
Chair Physical and Chemical Processes and Technologies, Tula State University, pr. Lenin 92, Tula 300012, Russia,
b
Institute of Applied Research, Furtwangen University, Robert-Gerwig-Platz 1, Furtwangen 78120, Germany

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: A concept of plastic electrode tools for electrochemical machining is investigated and applied to machin-
Received 12 July 2015 ing of c-Si. The electrode tools consist of a plastic body with an optimized electrical conductive coating.
Received in revised form 18 July 2016 This concept allows for low cost electrodes which can be even realized by rapid prototyping tech-
Accepted 25 September 2016
niques. The micro electrochemical machining of p-type silicon by these innovative metalized plastic
Available online 28 September 2016
electrode-tools is studied. The technological schemes of the machining and design of metalized plas-
tic electrode-tools are developed. Theoretical investigation of thermal conditions and limitations of the
Keywords:
electrode-tools during the machining process are performed. Based on these investigation, recommen-
Micro electrochemical machining
Plastic electrode-tool
dations on the minimum thickness of the conductive layer of the electrode-tools from Cu, Ni and Pt are
Metal coating dened. Experimental optimization of the process parameters during the machining is performed and
Silicon feasibility of the metalized plastic electrode-tools for micro electrochemical machining is demonstrated.
2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction high current densities (up to 100300 A/cm2 ). Therefore, electrode-

Applications of semiconducting materials and, in particular,
crystalline silicon (c-Si) in such branches as microelectronics and
microsystems are extending recently. In the fabrication of shaped
cavities with micrometric sizes in semiconducting workpieces are
often required. An example of an emerging application of silicon
is the fabrication of molds for injection molding of plastic micro
components, such as aspheric lenses or channels for microu-
idic applications. Some examples of application cavities in silicon,
which can be used as micro molds are presented in Fig. 1. Con-
ventional structuring processes of silicon, such as wet isotropic or
anisotropic etching or dry etching, are often not suitable in this case,
and novel structuring approaches, such as electrochemical etching,
have to be developed [13].
Electrochemical machining (ECM) is a promising method for
producing shaped cavities in silicon workpieces, because it can
ensure high accuracy and quality of machined surfaces [47]. Tra-
ditionally, ECM is applied to produce shaped cavities in materials
which are hard to machine, such as stainless steels, alloys and other
electroconductive materials in highly corrosive electrolytes and at
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: lvv@tsu.tula.ru (V.V. Lyubimov).
tools (ET) from corrosion resistant materials with high conductivity
are required [8].
Various schemes and methods of microstructuring with ECM
are used nowadays: machining using patterned surfaces [9,10]
or protective masking lms [11], machining by wire electrodes
[12,13], machining of holes (microdrilling) [14,15], machining by
electrolyte jet [16,17], micro electrochemical milling [18,19], micro
electrochemical turning [20], [21] and electrochemical drawing
[22]. High-precision microholes and complex microstructures with
high aspect ratio can be produced by these modern methods of ECM.
ECM can be applied to fabricate microstructures (micro ECM,
MECM). In this case, microtools with various shapes and sizes are
required, which can be also fabricated with MECM [2326]. Dif-
ferent microtools can be produced not only by MECM, but also for
other methods, for example, for micro electrical discharge machin-
ing.
To achieve and maintain high accuracy of machining is one of
the main problems of the MECM. ECM with constant feed rate
of ET and a constant voltage (or a current) have the insufcient
accuracy. Important ways to improve accuracy are: reduction of
inter-electrode gap, usage of pulsed voltage or current, introduction
of vibration or other electrode movements [8]. These methods have
been established in the second half of the last century. The realiza-
tion of these methods have led to typical values of inter-electrode

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.precisioneng.2016.09.017
0141-6359/ 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
 V.V. Lyubimov et al. / Precision Engineering 47 (2017) 546556 547

The accuracy of the modern methods of the MECM is about sev-

Nomenclature eral micrometers when using the inter-electrode gap up to 110
micrometers. For this purpose, machining with ultrashort pulses
c Heat capacity of the air (with pulse width of some tens nanoseconds) is carried out [2830].
D Diameter of the working part of the electrode-tool In the classical ECM, the use of the pulsed regime was necessary
d Diameter of metal rod located inside the electrode- to agitate electrolyte, and the pulse width was dened by the
tool time of lling of the inter-electrode gap by the machining prod-
g Gravitational acceleration ucts. During the MECM, the pulse width is dened by the time of
Gr Grashof number charging the double electric layer at the interface electrode elec-
h Thickness of electroconductive layer located on the trolyte. So that the anode dissolution is depended on the value of
external cylindrical surface of the electrode-tool the inter-electrode gap exponentially. Therefore, the localization of
hT Heat transfer coefcient from the electrode-tool to the actively dissolved surface on the anode is increased and con-
the air sequently the accuracy of the machining is increased too. Small
I Applied current volume in the gap during the MECM complicates evacuation of the
Id Current owing through the internal layer products of machining, which leads to decreased productivity of the
Ih Current owing through the external layer machining. To improve the evacuation of the products of machin-
Imax Maximum permissible applied current ing, various methods, such as electrode rotation or vibration, jet
k Thermal conductivity of the air feeding of the electrolyte, modication of geometry of the working
kp Specic thermal conductivity of the body material part of an electrode, are used [3133].
of the electrode-tool In MECM, electrode-tools with simple geometrical shapes are
L Length of the conductive layer/rod mostly used, and shape and dimensions of the machined structure
Nu Nusselt number are dened through the movement of the ET along certain path. One
Pr Prandtl number of the principal advantages of the ECM copying of the surface of
Qd Amount of heat generated in the internal electro- the ET during its simple movement with simultaneous machining
conductive lead of all machined surfaces is lost in this case. In the majority of the
Qd Amount of heat generated in the internal elec- works available up-to-now, fabrication and application of metal
troconductive lead for the case of the combined microelectrode-tools with various coatings is discussed [3436].
internal and external conductive layers Decreasing the total current in MECM from thousands to sev-
Qh Amount of heat generated in the external electro- eral amperes due to signicant decreasing of machining surface
conductive layer opens new possibilities to use two-layer ETs consisting of a non-
Qh Amount of heat generated in the external elec- conductive body produced by prototyping methods and a metal
troconductive layer for the case of the combined thin lm providing the needed electrical conductivity. However,
internal and external conductive layers for this approach the challenge is to select a suitable chemical
QNC Amount of heat passing to the air due to the natural compound for the body, a coating method and thickness of the
convection conductive layer formed on the nonmetallic body of the ET. The
Sd Cross-sectional area of the internal electroconduc- conductive layer should ensure the needed accuracy of the MECM
tive rod of shaped cavities, on the one hand, to provide the safety of the ET
Sh Cross-sectional area of the external electroconduc- (not allowing aking of the non metallic layer), on the other hand.
tive layer The purpose of this work is to show feasibility of the proposed
T0 Temperature of the air far away from the electrode- metalized plastic ETs for MECM of silicon. The work includes selec-
tool tion of a chemical compound for the body part of such ETs and a
TET Temperature of the electrode-tool coating method, calculation of required thickness of the conductive
Tmax Maximum permissible temperature of the layer on the nonmetallic body and study and optimization of the
electrode-tool process of the MECM with application of the developed metalized
U Working voltage plastic ETs.
Vel Flow velocity of electrolyte
Vrad Rotation speed of the electrode-tool
Vs Feed rate of the electrode-tool
TAir Temperature difference between the surface of the 2. Scheme of MECM and construction of metalized plastic
electrode-tool and the air ETs
TET Temperature difference between the surface of the
internal lead and the air The technological scheme for the MECM of the shaped elements
Tinner Temperature difference between the surface of the in silicon workpieces has been developed (Fig. 2). In this scheme,
electrode-tool and the surface of the internal lead shape formations is done by copying the shape of the ET with
Thermal diffusivity of the air vertical Z movements, unlike the schemes of chemical and elec-
Coefcient of thermal expansion of the air trochemical etching of silicon with masks [13].
Admissible calculation error of the temperature of The following features of the process of the MECM of the silicon
the electrode-tool workpieces have been determined by the analysis of the developed
 Kinematic viscosity of the air scheme:
 Air density
M Electrical conductivity of the layer
rather small currents can be applied due to small working area of
ET providing still a high current density;
gap smaller than 100 micrometers and pulse on-times ranging choice of material and fabrication method for ET is crucial in order
from 0.1 ms to 5 ms [27]. With these conditions, the machining to provide good accuracy and surface quality of the working area
accuracy can be increased to the value of the inter-electrode gap. of such micro ET.
548 V.V. Lyubimov et al. / Precision Engineering 47 (2017) 546556

Fig. 1. Examples of application oriented cavities in silicon used as molds: (a) convex lens mold; (b) concave lens mold; (c) Fresnel lens mold; (d) mold for microtube; (e)
mold for needle tool; (f) mold for manufacture of micro-cells; d 10. . .200 m; h 10. . .200 m.

Design of the two-layer electrode-tools, consisting of the dielec-
tric (non-metallic) body and the electrically conductive layer
coated on it, have been worked out considering the needs of MECM
of silicon [7,37]. A comparative analysis of possible design solutions
for the position of the conductive layers of the two-layer ETs was
carried out. For ETs with spherical working surface, three options
of current leads have been designed (Fig. 3). Shape and dimensions
of the working part of the ET can be varied depending on shape and
dimensions of the cavity to be machined in the workpiece (Fig. 1).
The non-metallic bodies of the ET were made by prototyping.
The electrically conductive layers on the ET were obtained by elec-
troless, galvanic and physical vapor deposition techniques. With
these methods, thin lms of conductive layers can be formed. The
electrically conductive layers from copper, nickel and platinum
have been considered.
3. Theoretical analysis of thermal limitations of the
two-layer ETs
A critical increase of the temperature of ETs can lead to its
damage or deformation. Therefore, an estimation of the thermal
behavior is required. A signicant amount of heat is produced by
the current passing through the thin electroconductive layer of the
ETs. The estimation of the thermal state of the electrode-tools with

Fig. 2. Scheme of MECM: (a) in an electrolyte droplet; (b) in a owing electrolyte; 1 electrode-tool; 2 electrically conductive electrode layer; 3workpiece (silicon); 4
working liquid (electrolyte); 5current supply layer (Al); 6 tool grip.
 V.V. Lyubimov et al. / Precision Engineering 47 (2017) 546556
Fig. 3. Design of the two-layer ETs for machining of spherical cavities: (a) with external current lead from the working part, (b) with internal metal rod, (c) complete
metallization of the ET with current supply through the grip; 1 electrode, 2 electrically conductive layer, 3current lead.
dielectric body has been carried out for the denition of the reason-
able thickness of the conductive layer, considering its admissible
maximum temperature.
Three variants of the arrangement of the cylindrical electrode-
tools (Fig. 3) have been considered (Fig. 4):
with electrically conductive thin layer of thickness h located on
the external cylindrical surface of the ET (Fig. 4a)
with metal rod of diameter d located inside the ET (Fig. 4b)
with both, electrically conductive thin layer of thickness h located
on the external cylindrical surface of the ET and rod of diameter
d located inside the ET (Fig. 4c)
Calculation of the temperature of the ET according to the scheme
of machining shown in Fig. 4d was made using an analytical approx-
imation, where the heat formed inside the ET due to passing of the
current is dissipated in the environment (air) by natural convec-
tion only [38]. This assumption provides an upper limit of resulting
temperature. For the solution, a set of equations is required for
calculation of the Nusselt number Nu and Prandtl number Pr:
hT L
Nu =
k

Pr =
k
where = c
In case of a cylindrical ET, Nu is given as [37]:
 1/4
4 7Gr Pr 2 4 (272 + 315Pr) L
Nu = + (3)
3 5 (20 + 21Pr) 35 (64 + 63Pr) D
where Gr is the Grashof number characterizing the intensity of the
natural convection in the air at the surface of the ET:
gL3 TAir
Gr =
2
where = 1  .
T of the ET, characterizing the heat exchange with the environment,
The heat transfer coefcient hT is reduced with the increasing
of the electrode-tool length and diameter as follows from the rela-
tions (1) and (3), which leads to the increasing of the electrode-tool
temperature
3.1. Electrically conductive layer coated on surface
For a thin electrically conductive layer on the body of the tool
(Fig. 4), the temperature drop TAir at a specied value of the
549
current I owing through the ET was calculated with the use of the
Eq. (3) and the following expressions:
Qh = QNC (5)
I2 L D2 (D2h)2
where Qh = M Sh
, QNC = DLhT TAir and Sh =  4
.
As a result of iterative solutions of the system of the nonlinear
Eqs. (1)(5), the values TAir are calculated. Then, the temperature
of the ET is derived from (4):
TET = T0 + TAir (6)
here it was assumed that T0 = 20 C.
The obtained value TET was compared to the maximum permis-
sible temperature of the ET Tmax . The thickness of the electrically
conductive layer was varied in order to satisfy the condition:
|TET Tmax | (7)
The results of the calculations of the admissible current depend-
ing on the thickness of the external electroconductive layer for the
ET with the diameter D = 2 mm and the length L = 10 mm, with the
electrically conductive layer made from Cu, Ni and Pt, are presented
(1) in Fig. 5a.
From the obtained results, it is obvious that the current and the
(2) thickness of the electroconductive layer inuence strongly the tem-
perature of the ET: a relative small change of Imax (e.g. from 2 A
to 0.5 A for copper at Tmax = 50 C) will change the corresponding
parameter h considerably by a factor of 25 (from 5 m to 0.2 m).
On the other hand, allowing an increase of maximal temperature
EET from 50 C to 100 C allows a reduction of thickness of the
conductive layer by a factor of 4 at Imax = 1 A.
3.2. Lead by internal electrically conductive rod
For an electrically conductive rod inside the plastic body
(4)
(Fig. 4b), it is necessary to consider the heat transfer through the
nonconductive body of the ET. Thus, the temperature on the surface
differs from the temperature of the electroconductive layer by the
value Tinner which is the temperature drop in the nonconductive
body along the distance (D d) /2. Assuming that all the heat is
transferred from the internal rod through the cylindrical noncon-
ductive body to the environment, the temperature drop in this layer
can be calculated with the use of the following expression:
Qd D
Tinner = ln (8)
2Lkp d
550 V.V. Lyubimov et al. / Precision Engineering 47 (2017) 546556

Fig. 4. The variants of constructions of the cylindrical two-layer ETs with various current supplies: (a) with electroconductive layer located on the external cylindrical surface
of the ET; (b) with metal rod located inside the ET; (c) with both electrically conductive layer located on the external cylindrical surface of the ET and metal rod located inside
the ET; (d) considered scheme of machining.

Fig. 5. Dependences of the maximal admissible current Imax on (a) the thickness of the external electroconductive layer h and (b) the diameter of the internal electroconductive
rod d for the ET with a diameter D = 2 mm and the length L = 10 mm.

The total temperature drop between the rod and the ambient current is not that strong: for the current increased by 6 times (from

air can be found with the expression: 0.5 A to 3 A for copper at Tmax=50 C), the diameter of the electro-
conductive rod increases also by 6 times (from 45 m to 270 m)
TET = Tinner + TAir (9)
due to linear dependence, instead of by 25 times for the case of the
As a result of the combined solution of the system of the non- external electroconductive layer.
linear Eqs. (3), (8), (9) with the boundary condition
3.3. The combined case of the external electroconductive layer
Qd = QNC (10)
and the central rod
I2 L 2
where Qd = M Sd
and Sd =  d4 , the values of Tinner , TAir and
For the case with both external electroconductive layer and the
TET can be calculated.
central rod (Fig. 4c), it is required to know the current owing
Then the temperature of the ET:
through the external layer Ih and the rod Id . If we assume that the
TET = T0 + TET (11) voltage drop in both paths is equal, then:
The values of the maximal admissible current Imax have been Sh Sd
Ih = I , Id = I (12)
found satisfying the condition (7) for varied values of the thickness Sh + Sd Sh + Sd
h as for the case 3.1. The results of the calculations for the ET with
For the given conguration of the ET, the internal electrocon-
the diameter D = 2 mm and the length L = 10 mm are presented in
ductive rod will have the highest temperature. In order to nd its
Fig. 5b.
temperature, the following equations together with the equations
From the obtained results (Fig. 5b), it follows that in case of all
(1)(4) should be solved:
other conditions being equal, the diameter of the internal electro-
conductive rod, required to transmit the same current, is essentially Qh + Qd = QNC (13)
larger than the thickness of the external electroconductive layer
Qd D
(though the areas of the cross sections of the two differ not so TET = ln + TAir (14)
strongly), and the dependence of the diameter of the rod d on the 2Lkp d
 V.V. Lyubimov et al. / Precision Engineering 47 (2017) 546556 551

Fig. 6. (a) Dependence of the maximal admissible current Imax on the thickness of the external electroconductive layer h for the combined current supply and (b) dependence
of the resistance of the external electroconductive layer on its thickness for the ET with the diameter D = 2 mm and the length L = 10 mm.

Ih 2 L Id 2 L
where Qh = M Sh
, Qd = M Sd
.
The temperature of the ET and the thickness of the electrocon-
ductive layer are found the same way as in the previous cases using
the Eqs. (11) and (7).
The results of the calculations for the ET with a diameter D =
2 mm and the length L = 10 mm are presented in Fig. 6. For the
calculation it was assumed that the electric resistance of the exter-
nal and internal electroconductive paths are equal, i.e. 50% from
the full current owing through each path. In this case, the most
effect is achieved by the usage of the combined current supply as
the desired complex resistance of the electrode is provided at the
minimum summary value of resistance of the external and internal
electroconductive layers. This means that Sh = Sd . Thus the diam-
eter of the internal electroconductive rod was calculated using the
following expression:

Fig. 7. Dependence of the current density on the inter-electrode gap (U = 10 V, con-

 centration of HF-electrolyte 5%).
2
d= D2 (D 2h) (15)

The received results allow predicting the thermal state of the

ET during the ECM process and can be used in designing of such
two-layer ETs with non-conductive body.
The actual value of the current depends not only on the char-
acteristics of the ET, but also on the conditions of machining. For
example, the decrease of the interelectrode gap leads to the essen-
tial increase of both the current density (Fig. 7) and the general
current owing through the ET (Fig. 8). These results are obtained
on the basis of the known dependencies for a current density on
the process parameters at electrochemical machining of silicon in
HF solution.
Based on the results of the theoretical investigations of the
thermal state of the electrically conductive layers, for the further
study ETs with electrically conductive external layer have been
produced, with the conductive layer obtained by the following
methods [3941]:

electroless deposition (thickness 0.20.4 m); Fig. 8. Dependences of the current on the inter-electrode gap and diameter of the
galvanic deposition (thickness 45 m); ET (U = 10 V, concentration of HF-electrolyte 5%).
physical vapor deposition (thickness 0.81 m).
552 V.V. Lyubimov et al. / Precision Engineering 47 (2017) 546556

Fig. 9. Equipment for electrochemical and electrophysical machining: 1power supply of the workpiece; 2power supply of the ET; 3signal generator; 4oscilloscope; 5ET
movement drive unit based on the linear translator 8T30-50; 6bath with working liquid; 7computer; 8electrochemical cell; 9three-dimensional positioning system.

Fig. 10. (a) electrochemical cell; (b) two-layer ETs for MECM process of silicon (left after Cu coating, right before Cu coating) with tool diameter ranging from 1 mm to
5 mm.

Table 1
Process conditions for the MECM process.

Process parameter Sequential number of the experiment

1 2 3 4

Deposition method for the electroconductive Electroless deposition Physical vapor deposition Galvanic deposition
layer (thickness in mm) (0.20.4) (0.81) (15)
Electrolyte 10% HF 30% HF
Applied voltage, V 3.5 4 5 6
Inter-electrode gap, mm 80100 5080 3060
Amplitude of vibration of the ET, mm 5
Machining duration, min 30 15 15 10
Current modulation s. Fig. 11

Fig. 11. Modulation of current density in time during the experiments 14 (see Table 1).
 V.V. Lyubimov et al. / Precision Engineering 47 (2017) 546556
Fig. 12. The working part of the ETs with a diameter D = 3 mm after heating in the furnace for the ETs with Cu electroconductive layer obtained by () vacuum deposition
and (b) galvanic deposition; 1coating; 2oxides; 3defects (cracks and peel-off of coating).
4. Experimental study of the behavior of the ETs and the
MECM process
4.1. Experimental methods
4.1.1. Procedure for heat resistance study of the system
electroconductive layer non-metallic body
The experimental study of the heat resistance of the system
electroconductive layer non-metallic body has been carried out.
The study was performed according to the following procedure:
1. The ET was loaded into a preheated furnace with furnace tem-
perature 40 C, 70 C, 100 C or 160 C.
2. The ET was kept in the furnace for 30 min.
3. Then the ET was taken out from the furnace and cooled down in
the air to the room temperature.
4. Estimation of the surface quality of the electroconductive layer
was performed by the optical microscope Zasilacz ZM 6/50.
This study was performed for the ETs with the electrically con-
ductive layers obtained by galvanic and vacuum deposition.
4.1.2. Study procedure for the MECM process
The experimental studies of the MECM process of silicon in
pulse-cyclic regimes have been performed with the specially
designed equipment based on the linear translator Vicon Standa
8MT30-50 (Fig. 9). The photo of the electrochemical cell is shown
in Fig. 10a.
The plastic bodies of the ETs (Fig. 10b right) have been adjusted
to the equipment dimensions and coated with external electro-
conductive layer by chemical, galvanic and vacuum deposition
methods (Fig. 10b left). Process conditions for the MECM are pre-
sented in Table 1. Modulation of current density in time during the
experiments is shown in Fig. 11.
553
5. Results and discussion
5.1. Study of heat resistance of the system electroconductive
layer non-metallic body
The ET samples after the experiment are shown in Fig. 12. The
following conclusions have been drawn from the experiment:
1. The electroconductive layers from copper obtained by the mag-
netron sputter deposition in vacuum have good operation
properties. First cracks in the copper layer are observed at
T > 100 C, and much more defects (cracks and peel-off of coating)
have been observed at T > 160 C (Fig. 12b).
2. The electroconductive layers from copper obtained by galvanic
deposition have shown the worst adhesion to the nonmetal-
lic body made of Plexiglas and at T > 70 C the Cu layer aked
(Fig. 12b).
Calculations of thermal stress of a plate from ABS-PLASTIC with
a copper coating have been carried out for the analysis of the inu-
ence of the temperature of the ET and the coating thickness on
the heat resistance of the system electroconductive layer non-
metallic body. As a result of the calculations, it has been found that
increasing the temperature causes internal stress in the Cu coating
and this stress can exceed the limit of stress for copper, because
the coefcient of thermal expansion of ABS-PLASTIC is essentially
lager than that of copper (7.38 105 K1 and 1.66 105 K1 ,
respectively). The stresses on the boundary electroconductive
layer non-metallic body depend on the temperature and the
coating thickness. The shear stress of thin Cu coatings with thick-
ness 1 m is much lower than the adhesion strength, thus the
mechanical contact between the coating and the body of the ET
remains stable. In contrast, aking of thick Cu coatings with thick-
ness > 5 m can occur as a result of the thermal stress.
Based on the experimental and theoretical investigations of the
thermal stability of the ETs, it is possible to draw a conclusion that
the reasonable thickness of the electrically conductive layer on the
ET should be in a range 15 micrometers. In this case, the conti-
554 V.V. Lyubimov et al. / Precision Engineering 47 (2017) 546556

Fig. 13. Results of the experimental study of the MECM process using plated Cu coating on ETs with a diameter D = 3 mm: (a) experiment 1; (b) experiment 2; (c) experiment
3; (d) experiment 4; 1Cu coating; 2oxides.
 V.V. Lyubimov et al. / Precision Engineering 47 (2017) 546556
Fig. 14. (ac) Silicon mold forms and (d) polycarbonate microlenses fabricated from them.
nuity of the coating, its high electrical conductivity and thermal
resistance can be maintained.
5.1.1. Study of the MECM process
The results of the experimental study of the MECM process are
presented in Fig. 13. The aking of the coating occurs at a small
thickness of a metal layer, it is shown on Fig. 13. Thus the defects
there were on the cavity surface.
The study has shown that the best results in respect to produc-
tivity are received for the machining in the concentrated solution
HF (30%) at the working voltage U of up to 6 V and using the ETs
with the electroconductive layer of thickness up to 5 m obtained
by galvanic deposition.
5.2. MECM of p-Type silicon with the metalized plastic ETs
Based on the theoretical and experimental considerations, tech-
nological recommendations for manufacturing of silicon mold
forms with the MECM process have been developed: surface nish
Ra < 0.15 mm and machining precision error <20 m.
The cavities in diameter from 2 to 5 mm and depth to 300 m
were machined.
The following optimized process parameters have been
selected:
electrolyte 5% HF;
interelectrode gap 57 mm;
voltage 57 V;
duration of pulses 0.05 ms.
The silicon mold forms for manufacture of optical microlenses
by the method of injection molding (Fig. 14ac) have been
machined and some polycarbonate microlenses have been pro-
duced (Fig. 14d).
555
6. Conclusions
As a result of the research the necessary parameters of the two-
layer ETs consisting of a non-metallic body by fast prototyping
methods and thin metal layer (the thickness of the metal layer,
the type of metal) were determined.
Three variants of the two- layer ETs were offered.
The maximum permissible currents dependant on the heat tem-
perature of the thin metallic layer were dened.
The aking of the thin metallic layer from the body depending
on the parameters of machining were determined.
Acknowledgements
Prof. J. Kffer, Mr. B. Lscher and Mr. A. Stumpp of
the Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz (Switzerland) are greatly
acknowledged for the fabrication of the plastic bodies of the
electrode-tools by rapid-prototyping method. The research work
has been carried out in frames of the international project ECM
Innovative electrodes and processes for micro ECM (ERA.Net RUS)
nanced by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research
(BMBF) (for the German group), Swiss State Secretariat for Educa-
tion and Research (for the Swiss group) and the Russian Foundation
for the Assistance of Small Innovative Enterprises (FASIE) (for the
Russian group) under the number Era.net RUS #94.
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