Materials for LiGA and LiGA-based microsystems

摘要

The LiGA technique that has been developed for the inexpensive mass fabrication of microdevices consists of three basic processes: X-ray lithography, electroforming and moulding. In each of these steps the properties of the used materials and the process parameters are strongly correlated to each other. Thus, optimizing processes requires detailed knowledge of the materials properties especially as the LiGA technique offers an extremely broad variety of materials (polymers, metals, alloys, ceramics) for the fabrication of three-dimensional microstructures. When it comes to specific applications of LiGA devices, it is often desirable to tailor the properties of materials and surfaces e.g. in respect to mechanical properties, optical properties, thermo- and electrochemical stability and biocompatibility. Again, a detailed knowledge of the properties of the various materials is crucial to optimize these tasks, keeping in mind that these properties on the microscale can differ from those of bulk materials.