Hitachi Via Mechanics USA Inc., San Jose, Calif., recently drilled 10,000 through holes—each 100µm in dia.—in a 0.5mm thick cast polyimide wafer, which is used for caustic microfluidic diagnostic applications.
Close-up of mechanically drilled cast polyimide 100µm hole arrays. Photos courtesy Hitachi Via Mechanics USA.
Conducted by Hitachi USA's Emerging Technology Group in Londonderry, N.H., in conjunction with Hitachi Japan, the demonstration shows the ability of micro hole drilling to produce through holes with 100µm diameters and smaller in high volume operations, Hitachi reported in a news release issued Nov. 5, 2009.
"The test revealed that many existing laser processes used for the creation of high density drilled hole arrays could be replaced by a simpler and cost-effective mechanical method at nearly a fifth of the process cost," acording to the Hitachi news release. Drilling is particularly effective in applications that must deal with variations in surface or material thickness because the drill defines the hole size, not the focal point of a lens, the company noted.
Hitachi USA's ND-1S Series single spindle modular system with vision and ND-Q Series six spindle production level micro hole mechanical drilling system are both capable of producing micro-sized holes in polymer sheet, tube and composite materials used in diverse industries from micro-electronics packaging to medical devices.
The Hitachi ND-1S Series single spindle modular system.
Small holes in high volume to keep down cost of microfluidic devices
