In our modern world, we need more and more sophisticated parts to build our machines. Some parts need to be very small and require micro machining tooling to make. The Youtube channel, Tooling U-SME, explains what micromachining is and how it helps our everyday lives.
When we say small, we’re saying that micromachining can produce parts that are a mere 1/1000th of a millimeter in size.
In the integrated circuit industry, a special kind of micromachining known as lithography is used to produce parts layer by layer.
Micromachining comes from the term “milling,” the process of using specialized machines that cut and drill. Most micromachining can be collectively called “Micro/Meso-Scale Mechanical Manufacturing,” or more commonly known as “M4.”
These machining methods tend to have higher degrees of accuracy and make smaller parts than those processes that work with silicon. With lithography being able to make parts within 1/10 – 1/100, M4 processes can do 1/1000 – 1/100,000.
With “batch processing,” the features on all components cannot be controlled at the same time. To keep with dimensional consistency, M4 makes parts one by one. This enables smaller features and high levels of accuracy.