Title: Additive Direct-write Fabrication for MEMS

Speaker: Kwok Siong Teh, PhD, Professor, School of Engineering, San Francisco State University.

Time: 9:30 am ~ 11:30 am, 2018/06/15.

Place: A424, West 5＃ Building, Qujiang Campus.

Synopsis: Direct-write additive manufacturing refers to a rich and growing repertoire of well-established fabrication techniques that builds solid objects directly from computer-generated solid models without elaborate intermediate fabrication steps. At the macroscale, direct-write techniques such as stereolithography, selective laser sintering, fused deposition modeling ink-jet printing, and laminated object manufacturing have significantly reduced concept-to-product lead time, enabled complex geometries, and importantly, has led to the renaissance in fabrication known as the maker movement. The technological premises of all direct-write additive manufacturing are identical—converting computer generated three-dimensional models into layers of two-dimensional planes or slices, which are then reconstructed sequentially into three-dimensional solid objects in a layer-by-layer format. In recent years, significant advancements in materials chemistry, laser technology, heat and fluid modeling, and control systems have enabled additive manufacturing to achieve higher resolutions at the micrometer and nanometer length scales to be a viable technology for MEMS fabrication. This talk aims to provide the current landscape of direct-write additive manufacturing techniques that are potentially applicable for MEMS microfabrication. Compared to traditional MEMS processes that rely heavily on expensive equipment and time-consuming steps, direct-write additive manufacturing techniques allow for rapid design-to-prototype realization by limiting or circumventing the need for cleanrooms, photolithography and extensive training.