{"id":13874,"date":"2022-02-16T10:05:22","date_gmt":"2022-02-16T09:05:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.micrometal.de\/?p=13874"},"modified":"2022-10-19T18:52:00","modified_gmt":"2022-10-19T16:52:00","slug":"photo-chemical-etching-optimized","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.micrometal.de\/en\/photo-chemical-etching-optimized\/","title":{"rendered":"Photo Chemical Etching – Optimized!"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

micrometal\u2019s complete focus is on the industrial production of high precision, repeatably accurate micro metal components, and to ensure this the company has enhanced the traditional approach to PCE.<\/p>

Dr Angel Lopez, Director of Business Development at micrometal says, \u201cEtchant chemistries are only one part of the picture when it comes to providing a truly optimized PCE process. OEMs looking for suppliers of intricate, often geometrically complex, feature rich, thin metal parts and components today need to realize that not all PCE is the same. micrometal is at the forefront of evolving the PCE process and offers unique adaptations of the technology that make its already striking characteristics even more compelling for OEMs pushing the boundaries of what is possible in metal part and component fabrication.\u201d<\/p>

micrometal\u2019s photo chemical etching process<\/a> is very different from conventional PCE processes, laser processing, or fine stamping. Uniquely, we use a special liquid resist system to obtain ultra-thin (2-8 micron) photoresist layers enabling a higher degree of precision in the chemical etching process. It allows us to achieve extremely small feature sizes of 25 microns, a minimum hole diameter 80% of the material thickness, and single digit micron tolerances repeatably. In addition, along with our optimised exposure system we can avoid the parallax problems typically associated with PCE. Traditional PCE uses relatively thick dry film resist which compromises ultimate part precision and the tolerances that are available, and it is only able to achieve 100 micron feature sizes and a minimum hole diameter of 100-200% material thickness. Our PCE process enables ultra-precise contours to take shape, and as such we can produce metal parts with unique features and a level of complexity that cannot be matched. Because of this we consider our PCE process to be an enabling technology, producing hitherto impossible metal parts and components, and therefore driving industrial innovation for our customers.<\/p>

micrometal also offers a continuous PCE process, meaning that metal can be processed continuously from the introduction of initial raw material (typically on a reel) to the final packaging step (which can see finished parts delivered on a reel). The company\u2019s continuous production technology allows for the manufacture of endless strips of components (so-called reel-to-reel production) enabling the manufacture of customer specific highly precise parts in industrial volumes wound onto reels for ease of further processing post-delivery. Metal strip thicknesses can be between 25 and 400 microns.<\/p>

micrometal\u2019s continuous photo etching process also avoids problems associated with batch-to-batch variations, effectively processing one large batch rather than a number of smaller batches. It is only in this way that PCE process experts like micrometal can truly claim that the first and the millionth part will actually be the same.<\/p>

Bernd Lehmann, Managing Director of micrometal explains, \u201cUniquely in the industry, micrometal can process and deliver up to 800-meter-long metal strips on reel, and these are often requested in industries that already demonstrate a high degree of automation in their own processing. Thus, the etched parts provided in reels by micrometal can be selectively coated or used by \u2018Pick & Place\u2019 at the final point of production. Such procedures are already widely implemented in the medical and automotive industries where micrometal services a number of market-leading and blue-chip OEMs.\u201d<\/p>

micrometal\u2019s PCE process also uses digitally produced glass tooling, providing superior reproduction, resolution, and a longer life-time at much reduced cost when compared with tools for traditional manufacturing processes. Such tooling can be adapted very quickly and at little cost, therefore accommodating small prototype runs to mass production volumes, and allowing design engineers to tweak and alter designs inexpensively to produce optimised end products.<\/p>

Lopez concludes, \u201cThere are so many advantages to micrometal\u2019s PCE process compared with alternatives, that we advocate customers partner with us as early in the product development process as possible. The unique possibilities that our PCE process offers means that early engagement will allow customers to benefit from our expertise, and optimise their products by taking advantage of the possibilities that true Design for Photo Chemical Etching (DfPCE) presents.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t \n
\n\t \t
\n\n\t \t\t\t
\n\t\t\t micrometal GmbH <\/b>\n\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t \n\t\t \n\t\t \n\t\t \n\t\t \t\t