Quantum · with NIST
Electroformed ion traps
Gold ion-trap electrodes for quantum computing research: 80 µm posts standing 150 µm tall, alongside 3 µm thick gold features and 10 µm lines.
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Metal Micromachining
We fabricate thick, high-aspect-ratio, uniform metal and metal-alloy structures that are too small for traditional machining, using LIGA-style lithography and void-free, bottom-up electroforming.
01Overview
Small, Innovative Devices Built by Growing Metal, Not Cutting It
Our metal micromachining program specializes in high-aspect-ratio micromachining (HARM): tall, narrow, precise metal and metal-alloy structures that fall below the reach of conventional machining. Rather than removing material, we grow it, following the LIGA sequence of lithography, electroforming, and molding: thick-resist molds with near-vertical sidewalls, bottom-up electroforming, and precision planarization. That geometry packs more strength, surface area, and conductivity into less space, for demanding applications across quantum, energy, RF, and medical imaging.
01
Fundamental Science
Electrochemistry R&D is the basis for dense, uniform, high-aspect-ratio metal: new and refined deposition chemistries, bath control for grain structure and stress, and characterization to validate every result.
02
Process Development
Dedicated labs for lithography, electroforming, and planarization let us iterate quickly on mold geometry, plating parameters, and finishing, and calibrate for fidelity across a wafer.
03
Product Realization
We deliver finished, functional hardware: metal and metal-alloy coatings and high-aspect-ratio 2.5D electroformed structures too fine for conventional machining.
02The Process
The Process
Our process follows LIGA (Lithographie, Galvanoformung, Abformung: lithography, electroforming, molding), using UV light and thick SU-8 or PMMA resists in place of synchrotron X-rays. Three tightly coupled steps take a design from mask to finished, characterized part.
Lithography
A precise photoresist mold is built on a conductive seed layer. UV exposure transfers the device geometry into a thick resist, defining near-vertical sidewalls for the metal to grow within.
- UV-LIGA with thick SU-8 and PMMA resists
- Near-vertical, high-aspect-ratio mold walls
- Class 100 cleanroom processing
Electroforming
Metal is grown from the bottom up, not machined from the top down. Superfill chemistry makes deposition fastest at the bottom of each cavity, so deep, narrow features fill solid with no trapped voids or seams.
- Void-free superfill of trenches, vias, and tall molds
- DC, pulse, and pulse-reverse plating waveforms
- Metal and alloy deposition with controlled composition
Planarization
Overplated metal is lapped and polished flush with progressively finer diamond media. The resist is then stripped to leave free-standing microparts, or the structure is kept as a mold insert for replication.
- Lapping to thickness and flatness targets
- Diamond slurries down to 0.1 µm
- Free-standing microparts or reusable mold inserts
03Track Record
Proven at Sandia National Laboratories
Our process comes out of Sandia National Laboratories’ Metal Micromachining Team (MMT), where VastVision research scientist Christian Arrington spent years electroforming gold, copper, and indium microstructures for Sandia programs and outside collaborators including NIST and NASA.
That work is the foundation of the lithography, electroforming, and planarization process we run today.
- 16
- plating chemistries, from hard and soft gold to Permalloy, Kovar, and thermoelectric tellurides
- 100+
- RF MEMS device wafers delivered on an optimized 7 µm gold process
- 35:1
- aspect-ratio silicon gratings coated with conformal, low-stress gold
- 0.06 µm
- finest diamond slurry in a planarization line for 4 to 6 inch wafers
04Selected Work
Structures too small to machine
Work performed by Sandia’s Metal Micromachining Team. Images courtesy of Sandia National Laboratories.
2007 to 2010
Terahertz waveguides on QCLs
Multilayer gold waveguides electroformed directly on 10 µm tall terahertz quantum cascade lasers, with no planarization needed. On-chip beam control of the laser was demonstrated.
2011 onward
Copper through-silicon vias
Void-free, full-thickness copper fill of DRIE silicon, hermetic to 10⁻¹¹ atm·cc/s helium with leakage below 15 pA. The same approach filled vias in alumina, sapphire (platinum), and photo-defined glass (through-glass vias).
2008 to 2012
Indium bump hybridization
A pulse-plating process taken to TRL 5: 13 µm/hr deposition with ±1 µm uniformity, aligned bonding of 4 µm bumps at 8 µm pitch, sub-micron bumps, and hardware delivered to NASA.
High aspect ratio
Conformal gold on 35:1 gratings
Low-stress gold plated 1 µm thick and fully conformal over silicon gratings with a 35:1 aspect ratio, reaching the base where CVD tungsten could not. Gratings up to 50 µm tall have been plated.
Electroformed coils
Micro inductive coils
Spiral and rectangular gold coils small enough to sit side by side on a penny, with electroformed backside contacts through filled vias.
05Facility
Inside the Facility
Three dedicated laboratories carry a build from lithography through electroforming to final finish, with in-line metrology at every stage.
Lithography Laboratory
Class 100 cleanroom for mold definition and resist processing.
- Class 100 cleanroom environment
- Resist spinners and UV exposure stations
- Ultrasonic and megasonic agitation for develop and clean steps
Electroplating & Characterization Laboratory
Electroforming plus in-line metrology to verify every build.
- Programmable function generators for plating waveforms
- Profilometry for thickness and surface measurement
- X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy for alloy composition
- Diffusion bonding
Planarization Laboratory
Precision finishing to final tolerance.
- Multiple polishing wheels of varying hardness
- Diamond slurries ranging down to 0.1 micron
- Lapping for flatness and parallelism
06Applications
Applications
Our metal micromachining capabilities support advanced programs including:
- Quantum computing and ion traps
- Through-silicon and through-glass vias
- Thick-metal microcoils and inductors
- X-ray phase-contrast gratings
- Terahertz waveguide development
- Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging
- RF and sensing components
- Photovoltaics
07Start a Project
Have a microfabrication challenge?
Tell us which capabilities you need and a bit about your part. A VastVision engineer will walk you through how our lithography, electroforming, and planarization labs apply, and follow up within one business day.