High-resistive micro components produced by high-pressure powder injection moulding

V. Piotter, G. Finnah, K. Plewa, R. Ruprecht, J. Hausselt
Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, Institute for Materials Research III, P.O. Box 3640, 76021 Karlsruhe, Germany

Abstract

In recent years Microsystems Technology products made by thermoplastic injection moulding have steadily entered the worldwide market, and this trend will certainly continue in the next years. On the other hand, there is still a lack of methods for the processing of materials other than thermoplastics, and there is also the necessity to reduce assembly expenditures.

To improve the materials variety the so-called Micro Powder Injection Moulding (MicroPIM) process facilitates a medium- and large-scale fabrication technology for metal and ceramic micro components. Examples are micro gear wheels manufactured on a specially equipped micro injection moulding machine. Minimum dimensions achieved so far are 50μm of part thickness or minimum structural details of less than 10μm. Densities up to 99% of the theoretical values were achieved depending on the particular powder applied. Typical materials are oxide ceramics, conductive ceramics, alloyed steels, or hard metals.

A remarkable new approach is the realization of material combinations like conductive/non-conductive or magnetic/non-magnetic within one singular part by two-component MicroPIM. The main technical challenges are the process parameters which have to be suitable for both materials and the question of adhesion in micro areas. As merging and shaping takes place simultaneously, expensive mounting steps can be omitted.