Electro-photographic solid freeform fabrication for micro-manufacturing

摘要

Electro-photographic Solid Freeform Fabrication or ESFF is a layer by layer deposition process similar to other rapid prototyping techniques but uses electro-photography for defining the geometry of each layer. ESFF being based on electro-photography can give high dimensional resolution unachievable in other rapid prototyping techniques. Currently ESFF has the lateral resolution good enough for manufacturing printed circuit boards and micro structures having lateral dimensions comparable to 0.5 mm. Being a solid freeform manufacturing technique, ESFF provides great geometrical flexibility in parts that can be manufactured. For this to be possible, different fabrication processes needs to be considered. This paper proposes a fabrication process using ESFF for micro manufacturing.