FREE-STANDING PATTERNED CERAMIC STRUCTURES OBTAINED BY SOFT MICROMOULDING

Patterned ceramic films with a constant thickness can be processed by a soft lithographic method. By using micromoulding in capillaries, the slurry is forced to flow through channels created in an elastomer stamp. After drying, layers deposited on an amorphous carbon substrate were sintered under inert atmosphere. Free-standing ceramic structures with high aspect ratio were obtained with lateral resolution better than 1 micron. Dimensional changes were monitored in comparison to films deposited on stiff sapphire substrate. This technique makes it possible to process a large variety of structures, from optical or electronic components to sieve and MEMS applications.