Focused Ion Beam Micro Machining and Micro Assembly

The ability to manufacture and manipulate components at the micro-scale is critical to the development of micro systems. This paper presents the technique to manipulate micro/nano parts at the micro/nano-scale using an integrated Focused Ion Beam (FIB) system composed of scanning electron microscope, micro manipulator and gas injection system. Currently the smallest gears manufactured with traditional techniques were reported to have a module of 10 μm. As a test example, in this research we applied the above integrated FIB technique and had successfully fabricated micro gears with module of 0.3μm, with the precision improved for more than thirty times compared to the traditionally manufactured gears. Currently the integrated FIB technique is extended to cover the micro-assembly of devices in our centre, besides the micro-manufacture procedure.