Guo-Hua Feng and Ri-Hong Chen 2008 J. Micromech. Microeng. 18 015016 doi:10.1088/0960-1317/18/1/015016
Guo-Hua Feng and Ri-Hong Chen
Show affiliationsConventional ionic polymer–metal composite (IPMC) production cuts individual transducers from bulk IPMC sheets. This paper presents a novel photolithographic technique that grows a large array of identical devices on a thin (~µm range) parylene diaphragm supported on a perforated substrate of material that is immune to the subsequent processing liquids. In particular, the new technique relies on a unique wax fill-up and removal concept that can produce arbitrarily shaped Nafion films with micron feature size. The developed process is cheap and results in devices of high uniformity and reliability, with greater design flexibility. Microtensile testing characterizes the fracture profiles of the non-electroded Nafion film and IPMC. Young's modulus is characterized, as well as maximum displacement and current consumption under various loading, driving voltages, waveforms and frequencies. High product quality and low process costs make this process of interest for mass production of micromachined IPMC transducers.
Issue 1 (January 2008)
Received 28 August 2007, in final form 8 October 2007
Published 3 December 2007
Guo-Hua Feng and Ri-Hong Chen 2008 J. Micromech. Microeng. 18 015016
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