ABSTRACT
The term microfabrication broadly refers to all techniques for fabricating devices and systems on the micrometer scale. As such, it borrows heavily from the processes and techniques pioneered in the semiconductor industry. To fabricate such small devices, processes that add, subtract, modify, and pattern materials are heavily used. The term micromachining can also be used to describe technologies to make devices other than electronic and semiconductor circuits. Similarly, these technologies can be characterized as additive (i.e., deposition of materials, metals, etc.) or subtractive (i.e., removal of materials through mechanical means, etching, laser processes, etc.). Micromachining processes can further be described as either surface or bulk. Surface techniques act on layers of materials above a base or substrate whereas bulk techniques also involve removal or modification of the substrate.
