Fabrication of Microstructures in LTCC Technology Using Selective Laser Ablation

This paper presents a technique and initial conditions for the laser ablation of microstructures in a low temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) technology. It is demonstrated that 2.5-D microstructures can be realized cost effectively and precisely by deploying the proposed technique in which an infrared laser is used to carefully ablate portions of unfired LTCC green tape. A demonstration prototype consisting of three gears and their mounting platform is realized along with a detailed description of the attendant micromachining process. The ablated surface is examined using a scanning electron microscope and a surface profiler. The optimization of the laser parameters required to equalize the surface roughness of the ablated material to that of an unmachined LTCC substrate is also described.