A method for forming of objects with a high surface quality and dimensional accuracy of ceramic material.

摘要

A method for micromolding ceramic articles and structures having spatial features as small as 0.1 &mgr;m and having a depth ranging from 2. 0 &mgr;m to 100 &mgr;m. A master mold of the article or structure to be molded is first fabricated using a silicon wafer and dry etching technology. A negative master mold is then produced by placing the silicon master mold device in a surrounding mold form and filling the surrounding mold form with a silicone or silicone rubber, preferably an RTV™ (a room temperature-vulcanizing silicone rubber compound). Such material replicates each of the micro features of the master mold in great detail to a resolution on the order of 0.1 &mgr;m. The negative master mold is then used in a die to mold the desired individual elements or structures from a ceramic powder which is capable of replicating each of the micro features of the negative master mold to the desired resolution. Depending on the resolution required in a particular micromolded element, it may be necessary to use ceramic nano-particles in the micromolding process. For resolution of spatial features having dimensions as small as 0.1 &mgr;m and a depth of about 2.0 &mgr;m, ceramic nano-particles ranging in size from about 0.01 &mgr;m to about 0. 02 &mgr;m can be used to micromold these features. If an integral structure is to be created from multiple micromolded ceramic elements, the elements are first assembled prior to sintering. Sintering results in an integration of the assembled elements to form a contiguous structure. A single element, or alternatively, multiple elements can be molded simultaneously from the stone mold cavity preferably using a dry pressing process or, in the alternative, a cold isostatic pressing process.