Yining Chen
(Advisor: Prof. Kardomateas]

will propose a doctoral thesis entitled,

MOLTEN-BASED 3-D DIRECTWRITE FABRICATION OF MICRO/NANO STRUCTURES

On

Thursday, February 4 at 10:00 a.m.
https://gatech.bluejeans.com/471215530
 

Abstract
The micro fabrication brings the human being into information age. From daily phones people use to the satellite in the orbit, they all reply on the control unit, sensors that made by microfabrication techniques. With decades of rapid development, the micro fabrication technology has reached a dimension that no one in the past can image. The next state of art micro electric fabrication dimensions is moving forward to 2nm which is 1/6000 that in 1970s.   However, these fabrication techniques become more and more expensive and make it only economically feasible for mass productions. Besides, it has difficulties in making very high aspect ratio or 3D structures due to it is mainly a 2D process. Meanwhile, people need them in various fields, such as micro needles, micro antenna etc.  In this proposal, we develop a direct-write method to fabricate high aspect ratio microstructures at low cost. Our method is based on molten materials extruding from a nozzle to form microstructures on the substrates. The setup to implement this method is built up in the lab including motion system, pressure control unit and heating elements. With proper combination of moving of the motor, temperature and driving pressure, micro 3D structures with ultra-smooth surface can be fabricated. These critical dimensions of the structures can be as small as hundred nanometer level while maintaining hundreds of aspect ratio. We explore the mechanism in the fabrication and realize precise control of the process. Very high dense and aspect ratio structure arrays are readily fabricated. The bonding and mechanical strength of the fabricated structures are also strong enough to serve as senor or mold for sequential processes. It provides a unique method for micro device that has application in biomedical and microelectronics. Additionally, we also develop a method to fabricate microneedle arrays that has many potential applications in biomedical field, such as medical/vaccine delivery, bio-signal monitoring, etc.

Committee

• Prof. George Kardomateas – School of Aerospace Engineering (advisor)
• Prof. Julian Jose Rimoli– School of Aerospace Engineering
• Prof. Claudio V. Di Leo– School of Aerospace Engineering
• Prof. Ting Zhu – School of Mechanical Engineering