Output details

Fabrication of MEMS components using ultrafine-grained aluminium alloys

Significance of output:

Micro heat exchanger is a crucial component of many microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). Conventional coarse-grained alloys with grain size of >50 µm normally could not obtain the required format of micro channels. A novel process for fabrication of MEMS metallic component with micro-scale features and high thermal conductivity was developed. This study is the first attempt to produce metallic foils with features at the scale of 5–50 µm by embossing using ultrafine-grained aluminium alloys produced by equal channel angular pressing. This work was supported by EPSRC First Grand EPSRC First Grant (2005-2008, £130k) and involved effort from a multidisciplinary team.