Polyimide thin film self-assembly

摘要

A component is produced by: (1) depositing a sacrificial layer 20 and a microstructure layer 30 on a silicon substrate 10; (2) etching the microstructure layer 30; (3) coating the microstructure layer 30 with a photosensitive polyimide thin film 40; etching the polyimide film 40 to produce an elastic joint 41; (5) wet etching the sacrificial layer 20; and then (6) heating the joint 41 to lift the microstructure layer 30. Preferably the elastic joint 41 is defined using photolithography. Preferably the microstructure 30 and sacrificial 20 layers comprise chemical vapour deposited (CVD) polycrystalline silicon 30 and phosphosilicate glass 20. The method produces miniature devices including micro-fans, scratch drive actuators, micro-optical bench chips, micro-optical switches, micro-inductors and micro-capacitors.