Selbstjustierendes miniaturiziertes Stempel-Matritzen-

Werkzeugsystem für Hochpräzisionsstanzen dünner Metall Folien

Self-aligning micro punch-die tool-system for high precision blanking

of thin metal foils
Isman Khazi, Ulrich Mescheder
Faculty of Mechanical and Medical Engineering, Hochschule Furtwangen University, Robert-
Gerwig Platz 1, 78120 Furtwangen
mes@hs-furtwangen.de, kmi@hs-furtwangen.de
Kurzfassung
In diesem Beitrag wird ein neuer, auf Mikrotechniken beruhender Ansatz der Selbstjustierung vorgestellt, mit dem
Stempel aus monokristalline Silizium mit hoher Genauigkeit (Schneidspaltbreite < 2 µm) zentrisch auf die zugehörigen
Öffnungen in der Matritze ausgerichtet Die genaue zentrische Ausrichtung des Stempels zur Matritzenöffnung ist
wichtig für bessere Werkzeugbeständigkeit (lange Standzeiten) und hohe Qualität des gestanzten Werkstückes. Beim
Mikrostanzen muss der Stempel-Matritzenöffnung-Abstand (Schneidspaltbreite) im Bereich weniger µm liegen,
abhängig von der Dicke des Werkstückes. Daher ist es schwierig, den Stempel mit konventionellen Mitteln wie
beispielsweise CCD Kameras auszurichten. In diesem Beitrag berichten wir über eien Ansatz, bei dem mit Hilfe eines
galvanischen Abformungsprozesses eine Negativform des hochpräzisen Siliziumstempels erzeugt wird, die als exakt
angepasste Matrize genutzt wird. Ein in der Grundfläche des Siliziumstempels integriertes ebenfalls abgeformtes
Nebenformelement wird zur hochgenauen Positionierung von Stempel und Matrize verwendet und ersetzt den sonst
aufwendigen Positioniervorgang. Dazu werden über dem Stempel herausstehende Führungselemente mittels eines
zweistufigen anisotropischen Ätzprozesses geätzt und dann als Form für die galvanische Abformung miteiner Nickel-
Kobalt Legierung verwendet. Die Führungselemente sind höher als der Stempel und werden zuerst in die zugehörigen
Löcher in der Matrizeeingeführt, was schließlich zur zentrischen Ausrichtung des Stempels zur Matritze führt.

Abstract
In this paper we present a novel approach of self-aligning system to align monocrystalline silicon micro-punches centri-
cally to corresponding openings in the die with punch to die clearance of less than 2µm. The centricity of the punch to
the die is very important for the longer life time of the tool and high quality of the punched workpiece. In case of mi-
cropunching, the punch to die clearance lies in the range of few µm depending on the thickness of the workpiece and it
becomes really difficult to align the punch centrically to the die by conventional methods like using CCD cameras etc.
In this paper we report the self-aligning system by means of dedicated guiding elements, which are etched near to the
punches with a larger height than the punch using a two-step anisotropic etching process and then using it as mold to
fabricated the die by using electroforming of Nickel-Cobalt alloy. The fabricated die is separated from the parent silicon
mold by etching away silicon in KOH solution. The punch-die The guiding elements being taller than punch are first
guided in to their respective die holes which eventually results in eccentric alignment of the punch into the die.

1 Introduction sions, alternative manufacturing techniques are required.

With the continuing trend towards miniaturization in the
industry sectors like electronics, there is strong demand
for high-precision metallic micro parts, which needs effi-
cient and suitable manufacturing methods to produce
them. Microforming is one of the appropriate methods for
the fabrication of such high-precision micro metal parts
economically, at large quantity and with high quality [1].
But because of the occurring size effects the behavior of
this process cannot be directly transferred from manufac-
turing in the macroscale to the microscale [2]. Downsiz-
ing of the manufacturing tool is one of the major chal-
lenges, as the fabrication effort of the tool becomes dis-
proportionally higher as the tool dimensions are reduced
below 100 µm [3]. In order to overcome the downsizing
limitations arising due to miniaturization of tool dimen-
One such alternative manufacturing method is the well-
established fabrication methods in Si-based microtech-
nology. Using the potential of Si-based microtechnology
it is possible to etch vertical side wall structures in mono-
crystalline silicon by wet and dry anisotropic etching,
which can be used as the tool material for cutting thin
metal foils for the production of high-precision micro
metal parts [4].
The fabrication and characterization of the tool wear of
monocrystalline Si as the micropunch tool material for
blanking thin copper foil is described in [4]. The process
and positioning errors intensifies the tool wear, for exam-
ple the lateral misalignment between the punch and die
can lead to punching tool breakage in microblanking and
also influence the workpiece quality [3]. The very small
punch to die clearance makes it more difficult to align the
punch centrically to the die. The normal punch to die
clearance is given as , where t is the thickness
of the metal foil [4]. In our case we use 20 µm Cu foil,
which makes a punch-die clearance of 2 µm on either
sides of punch. In the tests done with the monocrystalline
Si punch tools (punch width between 10 µm -1000 µm
[4]), the Si punch was aligned with the steel die using a
CCD camera, which limited the exact centric alignment of
the punch to the die because of the limitation of the CCD
camera resolution to resolve the punch-die clearance < 2
µm.
2 Concept and experimental
2.1 Concept for self-alignment
In order to overcome the limitation of aligning the punch
centrically to die opening with a punch to die clearance of
less than 2 µm, the concept of a system for self-alignment
of Si punch to die by using special guiding elements (GE)
which are etched next to the punch is proposed. Addition-
ally the punch is then used as a mold to electroplate the
die using Nickel-Cobalt (NiCo) alloy. The electroformed
die is negative of the Si punch with GE. The electro-
formed die thus provides the die holes for both, GE and
punch. The larger height GE are first directed into their
respective die holes in the electroformed die. During this
step, any contact of the punch to the die is avoided be-
cause its height is smaller than those of the GE. Once the
GE is inside its respective die hole, the punch is automati-
cally self-aligned and directed into its respective die hole.
2.2 Fabrication of monocrystalline Silicon
punches with self-aligning GE
The monocrystalline silicon punch tools with self-aligning
GE were fabricated by both, dry and wet anisotropic etch-
ing techniques. The GE have larger height (ca. 225 µm)
compared to the punches (ca. 125 µm). To fabricate such
different height structures a two-step etch process was
employed which is schematically shown in Fig.1. 4 inch
(100) oriented silicon wafers were used for deep reactive
ion etching (DRIE), whereas (110) oriented silicon wafers
were used in case of electrochemical anisotropic wet etch-
ing of c-Si with KOH. As first process step the wafers are
wet thermally oxidized to grow a silicon dioxide layer of
ca. 2.1 µm thick as shown in Fig. 1(b), which acts as a
masking layer in both DRIE and KOH wet etching. The
oxidized wafers were then coated with ca.1.8 µm thick
S1818 photoresist as shown in Fig. 1(c). With the first
mask only the GE are defined using direct writing with
Heidelberg Instruments DWL66FS and then developing
the photoresist structure as shown in Fig. 1(d). The devel-
oped wafers were post baked and dipped in BHF to struc-
ture the silicon dioxide layer as shown in Fig. 1(e). Once
the silicon dioxide is structured the resist is stripped off
and the (100) and (110) wafer were etched in DRIE and
KOH (23.3 wt% KOH+13.3 wt% Isopropanol+63.3 De-
ionized Water) respectively for an etch depth of 100 µm
as shown in Fig 1(f). The wafers were then dipped in BHF
to etch away the remaining silicon dioxide masking layer
and were further
thermally wet oxidized to grow an oxide layer of ca. 2.1
µm thickness. The wafers were then coated with S1818
photo-resist(1.8 µm thick) as shown in fig. 1(g). The
mask design for both the self-aligning GE and punch was
exposed with very precise alignment with respect to the
already etched self-aligning GE. The exposed wafers were
developed to structure the photoresist and were dipped in
BHF for structuring the silicon dioxide masking layer as
shown in fig. 1(h). The (100) oriented silicon wafer was
etched in DRIE and (110) oriented wafer was etched in
KOH, for an etch depth of 125 µm deep as shown in fig.
1(i). After the etching, the wafers were dipped in BHF to
etch away the remaining silicon dioxide masking layer.
With this two-step etching process a self- aligning GE and
punch of different heights were successfully etched.
Oxidation and photoresist coating
Si
SiO2
GE and punch design exposure
Photoresist
Anisotropic etching GE and punch
GE exposure
BHF dip
Anisotropic etching GE
GE punch
punch GE
Fig.1. Schematic process flow with two-step etch process
to etch different height self-aligning guiding elements and
punch, details description of steps (a) – (j) is in the text.
2.3 Fabrication of the die using electro-
forming of NiCo alloy
The punching dies were fabricated by electroforming of
NiCo alloy using the etched Si punch and GE as the mold
(Fig. 1 (g)). The Si punch with GE was cut into 13x13
mm² chips using the diamond saw. These chips were then
sputtered with titanium 20 nm thick and platinum 100 nm
thick, which serve as conductive adhesion and seed layer
for electroforming, respectively. The chips were fixed in
dedicated holder providing front side contact and expos-
ing only 10x10 mm² surface area in the electrolyte. The
electrolyte composition is shown in table 1. The electro-
lyte was prepared in the following steps in order to get
70% Ni and 30% Co in the final deposited alloy:
1. The electrolyte was prepared for a total quantity of 150
ml using the ingredients listed in Table 1 for an electro-
chemical cell with a capacity of 300 ml.
2. The electrolyte was heated up to 55°C along with stir-
ring up to 500 rpm on a magnetic stirrer. 2g of Boric acid
(H3BO3), 2g of Nickel Chloride (NiCl2), 1g of saccharin
(C7H5NO3S) and 0.25 g of Sodium lauryl sulphate was
added to the electrolyte and left for stirring overnight. The
pH was maintained at 3 during the entire process by using formed die. The Si punch 10x10 mm² is held on to the
Boric acid and NaOH.The chips were cleaned and de- adapter as shown in Fig.4(a). The electroformed die is
greased using isopropanol alcohol and ultrasonic cleaner placed on top of the chip containing Si punch and GE as
and were fixed in the cathode holder. A 99.99% pure shown in Fig. 4(b). The die is slowly moved such that the
Nickel metal plate 30x30 mm² with 0.8 mm thickness was GE are inserted into their respective die holes. Once the
used as the sacrificial anode. The anode and cathode were GE are inserted into their respective die holes, the punch
held vertically in the electrochemical cell. The external is subsequently inserted into its respective die hole, there-
power was supplied through a Potentiostat (Biologic SPS by achieving high precision self-alignment of the silicon
160), in a galvanostatic mode starting with very small cur- punch-die with a clearance of 2 µm. The chips for electro-
rent density (10 mA/cm²) increasing to larger current den- forming to fabricate the die and the chips for defining an
sity (up to 100 mA/cm²), to get a total thickness of ca. 500 actual punching structure are etched on the same wafer
µm. The silicon and the electroformed NiCo die were and the distances between the GE and punch are exactly
separated by etching of the Si in KOH solution at 80°C. the same, therefore a very accurate centric alignment of
punch to the die is achieved. Once the GE are inside their
Table 1 Electrolyte composition and operating conditions respective dies, the external guiding sticks are inserted
into the adapter as shown in Fig.4(c), in order to avoid
any misalignment during fixing the other adapter to the
Chemical/operating parameter Quantity die . The adapter for the die is pasted with a two side
highly adhesive tape and is slowly directed towards the
die, with the help of external guiding sticks as shown in
Nickel Sulfamate 76 mL/150 mL Fig. 4(d).
Cobalt Sulfamate 24 mL/150 mL
Boric acid 2 g/150 mL
Nickel chloride 2 g/150 mL
Saccharin 1 g/150 mL
Sodium lauryl sulfate 0.25 g/150 mL
DI-water 40 mL/150 mL
Current density (10-100) mA/cm2
Temperature 50 ± 5 °C
pH 3
Agitation (Magnetic stirrer) 450 rpm

3 Results and discussions

Initially, the GE is etched up to 100 µm deep and then in Fig. 2. Dektak profilometer profile of the different height
the second etch step, the already etched GE and the punch GE and punch, showing the height of GE as ca. 205 µm
are masked and are further etched up to 125 µm deep as and punch as ca. 125 µm.
shown in fig. 1(h). The different heights of the GE and
punch were then characterized using the DEKTAK pro-
filometer as shown in Fig. 2. The fabricated GE and
punch are then electroformed with NiCo alloy to fabricate
the die. NiCo alloy is chosen as the die material because
of its ease of electrodeposition and robust mechanical
properties such as hardness up to 600HV and low internal
stress. (a)
The punch to die clearance of the corresponding struc-
tures is defined by using different punch widths for elec-
troforming and punching, where the difference in punch
2µm clearance
width defines the respective punch-die clearance as
shown in Fig. 3. We fabricated on one half of the wafer
punches with punch-width of 84 µm and on the other half
with punch-width of 80 µm. The punches with larger (b)
punch-width were used for fabrication of die by electro- Fig.3. Schematic representation of the technique to define
forming using NiCo alloy as shown in Fig. 3(a) and the the punch-die clearance (a) fabricated die using electro-
punches with smaller punch-width were used for actual forming of NiCo alloy with larger punch-width of ca. 84
punching applications as shown in Fig. 3(b). The GE to µm and (b) using the punch with smaller punch-width of
die clearance is defined by the thickness of the seed layer ca. 80 µm and fabricated die, where the punch width dif-
used and was < 250 nm in our case. The alignment of the ference defines the punch-die clearance of 2 µm on either
punch to die is done by very simple method, where spe- side of the punch and die.
cial adapters are designed to hold Si punch and electro-
Once the adapter is in touch with the die, the die sticks to
it and the entire system is fixed with the help of screws
and is ready to be inserted in the test equipment (details of
test equipment can be found in [7]). In order to character-
ize the self-aligning of Si micropunch to die, the system is
inspected under stereo microscope. Fig. 5 (top) shows the
Si micropunch aligned with respect to its die hole as the
GE are half-way inserted into their respective die holes.
The depth of GE insertion into their respective die holes is
controlled by placing thin foil stripes of 50-100µm thick-
ness on sides of the chip as shown in Fig. 4(a). Once the
GE are half-way inside their die holes, the foils stripes are
removed and then the die is slowly pressed towards the
punch, thereby the punch is inserted completely into its
die hole as shown in Fig. 5 (bottom). Therefore the punch
is aligned centrically to the die by this proposed approach.
(a)
(b)
(c) (d)
Fig. 4. (a) Silicon punch 10x10 mm² held on an adapter
(b) electroformed die is brought on top of the chip such
that the GE are inserted into their respective die holes (c)
external GE are inserted into the adapters and (d) another
adapter is brought from top which fixes the die, thereby
forming the complete self-aligned micropunching system.
Silicon punch
Electroformed
NiCo die
Silicon punch
Electroformed
NiCo die
Fig.5. (top) Si punch placed on top of the die hole as the
GE are half way in their respective die holes and (bottom)
Si punch inserted into its die hole with a punch-die
clearance of 2 µm.
4 Conclusion
A new type of precise alignment of a Si-punch to the cor-
responding hole in the die is presented. The successful
alignment of the silicon micropunch to the electroformed
die with a punch-die clearance of 2 µm is shown. The
proposed self-alignment micropunch system using guid-
ing elements etched next to the Si punch and using it as
mold for fabrication of die by electroforming using NiCo
alloy, results in very simple punch-die alignment with µm
clearance. This technique overcomes the limitations of
conventional methods to aligning punch to die with clear-
ances < few µm.
5 Acknowledgement
We would like to thank Prof. Dr. Ulf Engel and M.Sc.
Sven Hildering from the chair for manufacturing technol-
ogy (LFT) at FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg for further me-
chanical characterization of the self-aligned Si mi-
cropunches. We would also like to thank the German Re-
search Foundation (DFG) for funding the research work
which is done in the framework of the project, „„Use of
monocrystalline Silicon as the tool material for high accu-
rate blanking of thin metal foils‟‟ in cooperation with
FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg. (ME 2093/2-2)
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