Construction of 3-D micro structure by multi-face FAB, co-focus rotational robot and various mechanical tools

In order to manufacture a 3-D micro structure, the following three mechanical methods are newly designed: (1) Multi-face FAB (fast atom beam): The beam, which passed through a hole of a non-contact mask, can pattern-etch on multiple faces of a workpiece by using the intermittent rotation of the workpiece. Because FAB showers straight, the pattern-etching can be performed sharply even on an undulated workpiece where a lithographic contact mask can not draw any pattern. (2) Co-focus rotational robot: The robot's hand has 4 rotational and 3 translational degrees of freedom. Because the rotation axes cross within the microscopic visual area, an operator can execute any micro 3-D task with the rotation under an all-time observation. (3) Mechanical tools: As an end-effector of micro manufacturing machines, the micro mechanical tools are inevitable. In this paper, a vibrating cutting/scraping tool and an air sucking handling tool are developed. In order to confirm the validity of the above concept and the proposed methods, a micro "Gojunoto (an old Japanese temple tower, 280/spl times/100/spl times/100 /spl mu/m)" was constructed as an example of the 3-D micro structure. Through this construction, it is clarified that the above methods can successfully realize the 3-D micro structure.