Micro/Nano-Machining: Fundamentals and Recent Advances

A special issue of Nanomaterials (ISSN 2079-4991). This special issue belongs to the section "Nanofabrication and Nanomanufacturing".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2022) | Viewed by 19208

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
College of Engineering, Ibaraki University, Hitachi 316-8511, Japan
Interests: cutting; grinding; polishing; texturing; EDM; laser machining; SPM-based machining; molecular dynamics; nano/micro-tribology
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Special Issue Information

Dear colleagues,

As represented by the manufacture of ultra-precision devices such as semiconductor integrated circuits and optical components, the importance of micro/nano-machining or material processing that incorporates chemical and heat or another effects has been increasing. The targets are not only the materials that have been conventionally used, but also the next-generation materials including nanomaterials. In addition, as represented by molecular simulations and SPM-based processes, there is a wide variety of methods for analyzing these machining or processing mechanisms.

This Special Issue aims to collect a variety of high-quality research papers and review articles that focus on micro/nano-machining and related processing or simulation of various kind of engineering materials. I am looking forward to receiving your valuable articles.

Prof. Dr. Jun Shimizu
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • Micro/nano-machining
  • Finishing
  • Electrical machining process
  • Beam process
  • Chemical process
  • Hybrid process
  • SPM-based process
  • Machining simulation

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Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

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16 pages, 6367 KiB  
Article
Effect of Interfacial Interaction on the Demolding Deformation of Injection Molded Microfluidic Chips
by Yilei Wang, Can Weng, Huijie Sun, Zijian Deng and Bingyan Jiang
Nanomaterials 2022, 12(19), 3416; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano12193416 - 29 Sep 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1569
Abstract
During the demolding process, the interfacial interaction between the polymer and the metal mold insert will lead to the deformation of the micro-structure, which will directly affect the molding quality and performance of injection molded microfluidic chips. In this study, the demolding quality [...] Read more.
During the demolding process, the interfacial interaction between the polymer and the metal mold insert will lead to the deformation of the micro-structure, which will directly affect the molding quality and performance of injection molded microfluidic chips. In this study, the demolding quality of micro-channels and micro-mixing structures of polycarbonate (PC), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), cyclic olefin copolymer (COC), and polystyrene (PS) microfluidic chips for heavy metal detection were investigated by molding experiments. The experimental results showed that the structures of microfluidic chips could be completely replicated. However, tensile deformation and fracture defects were observed at the edges of the micro-structures after demolding. Compared to the Ni mold insert, the calculation of the relative deviation percentages showed that the width of the micro-channel became larger and the depth became smaller, while the dimensions of the micro-mixing structure changes in the opposite direction. Subsequently, a molecular dynamics (MD) simulation model of polymer/nickel (Ni) mold insert for injection molding was established. The changes of adhesion work, demolding resistance and potential energy during demolding were analyzed. The simulation results showed that the polymer structures had some deformations such as necking, molecular chain stretching and voids under the action of adhesion work and demolding resistance. The difference in the contact area with the mold insert directly brought different interfacial interactions. In addition, the potential energy change of the polymer system could be used to quantitatively characterize the demolding deformation of the structure. Overall, the MD method is able to effectively explain the internal mechanisms of interfacial interactions, leading to the demolding deformation of polymer structures from the molecular/atomic scale. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Micro/Nano-Machining: Fundamentals and Recent Advances)
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13 pages, 3499 KiB  
Article
Versatile Approach of Silicon Nanofabrication without Resists: Helium Ion-Bombardment Enhanced Etching
by Xiaolei Wen, Lansheng Zhang, Feng Tian, Yang Xu and Huan Hu
Nanomaterials 2022, 12(19), 3269; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano12193269 - 20 Sep 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2111
Abstract
Herein, we report a helium ion-bombardment enhanced etching method for silicon nanofabrication without the use of resists; furthermore, we demonstrate its unique advantages for straightforward fabrication on irregular surfaces and prototyping nano-electro-mechanical system devices, such as self-enclosed Si nanofluidic channels and mechanical nano-resonators. [...] Read more.
Herein, we report a helium ion-bombardment enhanced etching method for silicon nanofabrication without the use of resists; furthermore, we demonstrate its unique advantages for straightforward fabrication on irregular surfaces and prototyping nano-electro-mechanical system devices, such as self-enclosed Si nanofluidic channels and mechanical nano-resonators. This method employs focused helium ions to selectively irradiate single-crystal Si to disrupt the crystal lattice and transform it into an amorphous phase that can be etched at a rate 200 times higher than that of the non-irradiated Si. Due to the unique raindrop shape of the interaction volumes between helium ions and Si, buried Si nanofluidic channels can be constructed using only one dosing step, followed by one step of conventional chemical etching. Moreover, suspended Si nanobeams can be fabricated without an additional undercut step for release owing to the unique raindrop shape. In addition, we demonstrate nanofabrication directly on 3D micro/nano surfaces, such as an atomic force microscopic probe, which is challenging for conventional nanofabrication due to the requirement of photoresist spin coating. Finally, this approach can also be extended to assist in the etching of other materials that are difficult to etch, such as silicon carbide (SiC). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Micro/Nano-Machining: Fundamentals and Recent Advances)
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14 pages, 2794 KiB  
Article
Generating Self-Shaped 2D Aluminum Oxide Nanopowders
by Meng-Ying Lee, Fu-Su Yen and Hsing-I Hsiang
Nanomaterials 2022, 12(17), 2955; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano12172955 - 26 Aug 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1614
Abstract
The thermal-assisted exfoliation phenomena of boehmite particles under moderate heating rates were examined. The exfoliation that generated flakes of 5–6 nm in thickness can be achieved because of the perfect cleavage on the boehmite particles that are stripped when thermal treatments bring about [...] Read more.
The thermal-assisted exfoliation phenomena of boehmite particles under moderate heating rates were examined. The exfoliation that generated flakes of 5–6 nm in thickness can be achieved because of the perfect cleavage on the boehmite particles that are stripped when thermal treatments bring about dehydration and γ-Al2O3 formation in sequential phase transformation of boehmite. Examinations of the exfoliation effects were carried out on calcined boehmite single crystal particles, which were about 500 nm in diameter, and obtained at three heating rates 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 °C/min with the heating schedules. The TEM techniques, BET-N2 measurements, XRD-Scherrer equation, and AFM images were employed in the examination. That the BET values increased as increasing of exfoliated flakes reflected two stages of exfoliation. In the beginning stage, during which the BET values were <40 m2/g, the exfoliation resulted from the stress produced by dehydration. In the second stage, the increased rate of surface area was due to the additional force, which originated from the γ-Al2O3 formation. Exfoliation occurred on the cleavage planes {010}, the side pinacoid of the boehmite particle. The generation of flakes resulted in the thinning of boehmite particles. Some of the flakes preserved the external form of boehmite crystals. From the surface energy evaluations of boehmite and γ-Al2O3, it can be inferred that exfoliation is a natural way of thermal treatment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Micro/Nano-Machining: Fundamentals and Recent Advances)
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14 pages, 6542 KiB  
Article
Mechanical Load-Induced Atomic-Scale Deformation Evolution and Mechanism of SiC Polytypes Using Molecular Dynamics Simulation
by Haoxiang Wang, Shang Gao, Renke Kang, Xiaoguang Guo and Honggang Li
Nanomaterials 2022, 12(14), 2489; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano12142489 - 20 Jul 2022
Cited by 20 | Viewed by 2455
Abstract
Silicon carbide (SiC) is a promising semiconductor material for making high-performance power electronics with higher withstand voltage and lower loss. The development of cost-effective machining technology for fabricating SiC wafers requires a complete understanding of the deformation and removal mechanism. In this study, [...] Read more.
Silicon carbide (SiC) is a promising semiconductor material for making high-performance power electronics with higher withstand voltage and lower loss. The development of cost-effective machining technology for fabricating SiC wafers requires a complete understanding of the deformation and removal mechanism. In this study, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were carried out to investigate the origins of the differences in elastic–plastic deformation characteristics of the SiC polytypes, including 3C-SiC, 4H-SiC and 6H-SiC, during nanoindentation. The atomic structures, pair correlation function and dislocation distribution during nanoindentation were extracted and analyzed. The main factors that cause elastic–plastic deformation have been revealed. The simulation results show that the deformation mechanisms of SiC polytypes are all dominated by amorphous phase transformation and dislocation behaviors. Most of the amorphous atoms recovered after completed unload. Dislocation analysis shows that the dislocations of 3C-SiC are mainly perfect dislocations during loading, while the perfect dislocations in 4H-SiC and 6H-SiC are relatively few. In addition, 4H-SiC also formed two types of stacking faults. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Micro/Nano-Machining: Fundamentals and Recent Advances)
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16 pages, 10250 KiB  
Article
Pulse-Atomic Force Lithography: A Powerful Nanofabrication Technique to Fabricate Constant and Varying-Depth Nanostructures
by Paolo Pellegrino, Alessandro Paolo Bramanti, Isabella Farella, Mariafrancesca Cascione, Valeria De Matteis, Antonio Della Torre, Fabio Quaranta and Rosaria Rinaldi
Nanomaterials 2022, 12(6), 991; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano12060991 - 17 Mar 2022
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2806
Abstract
The widespread use of nanotechnology in different application fields, resulting in the integration of nanostructures in a plethora of devices, has addressed the research toward novel and easy-to-setup nanofabrication techniques to realize nanostructures with high spatial resolution and reproducibility. Owing to countless applications [...] Read more.
The widespread use of nanotechnology in different application fields, resulting in the integration of nanostructures in a plethora of devices, has addressed the research toward novel and easy-to-setup nanofabrication techniques to realize nanostructures with high spatial resolution and reproducibility. Owing to countless applications in molecular electronics, data storage, nanoelectromechanical, and systems for the Internet of Things, in recent decades, the scientific community has focused on developing methods suitable for nanopattern polymers. To this purpose, Atomic Force Microscopy-based nanolithographic techniques are effective methods that are relatively less complex and inexpensive than equally resolute and accurate techniques, such as Electron Beam lithography and Focused Ion Beam lithography. In this work, we propose an evolution of nanoindentation, named Pulse-Atomic Force Microscopy, to obtain continuous structures with a controlled depth profile, either constant or variable, on a polymer layer. Due to the modulation of the characteristics of voltage pulses fed to the AFM piezo-scanner and distance between nanoindentations, it was possible to indent sample surface with high spatial control and fabricate highly resolved 2.5D nanogrooves. That is the real strength of the proposed technique, as no other technique can achieve similar results in tailor-made graded nanogrooves without the need for additional manufacturing steps. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Micro/Nano-Machining: Fundamentals and Recent Advances)
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14 pages, 66573 KiB  
Article
Analysis of Nanoscratch Mechanism of C-Plane Sapphire with the Aid of Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Hcp Crystal
by Wangpiao Lin, Naohiko Yano, Jun Shimizu, Libo Zhou, Teppei Onuki and Hirotaka Ojima
Nanomaterials 2021, 11(7), 1739; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano11071739 - 1 Jul 2021
Viewed by 2579
Abstract
In this study, single groove nanoscratch experiments using a friction force microscope (FFM) with a monocrystalline diamond tip were conducted on a c-plane sapphire wafer to analyze the ductile-regime removal and deformation mechanism including the anisotropy. Various characteristics, such as scratch force, depth, [...] Read more.
In this study, single groove nanoscratch experiments using a friction force microscope (FFM) with a monocrystalline diamond tip were conducted on a c-plane sapphire wafer to analyze the ductile-regime removal and deformation mechanism including the anisotropy. Various characteristics, such as scratch force, depth, and specific energy for each representative scratch direction on the c-plane of sapphire, were manifested by the FFM, and the results of the specific scratch energy showed a trend of six-fold symmetry on taking lower values than those of the other scratch directions when the scratch directions correspond to the basal slip directions as 0001112¯0. Since this can be due to the effect of most probably basal slip or less probably basal twinning on the c-plane, a molecular dynamics (MD) simulation of zinc, which is one of the hexagonal close-packed (hcp) crystals with similar slip/twining systems, was attempted to clarify the phenomena. The comparison results between the nanoscratch experiment and the MD simulation revealed that both the specific scratch energy and the burr height were minimized when scratched in the direction of the basal slip. Therefore, it was found that both the machining efficiency and the accuracy could be improved by scratching in the direction of the basal slip in the single groove nanoscratch of c-plane sapphire. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Micro/Nano-Machining: Fundamentals and Recent Advances)
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Review

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17 pages, 4837 KiB  
Review
Reviewing Performance Measures of the Die-Sinking Electrical Discharge Machining Process: Challenges and Future Scopes
by Renu Kiran Shastri, Chinmaya Prasad Mohanty, Sitaram Dash, Karthick Muthaiah Palaniappan Gopal, A. Raja Annamalai and Chun-Ping Jen
Nanomaterials 2022, 12(3), 384; https://doi.org/10.3390/nano12030384 - 25 Jan 2022
Cited by 38 | Viewed by 5011
Abstract
The most well-known and widely used non-traditional manufacturing method is electrical discharge machining (EDM). It is well-known for its ability to cut rigid materials and high-temperature alloys that are difficult to machine with traditional methods. The significant challenges encountered in EDM are high [...] Read more.
The most well-known and widely used non-traditional manufacturing method is electrical discharge machining (EDM). It is well-known for its ability to cut rigid materials and high-temperature alloys that are difficult to machine with traditional methods. The significant challenges encountered in EDM are high tool wear rate, low material removal rate, and high surface roughness caused by the continuous electric spark generated between the tool and the workpiece. Researchers have reported using a variety of approaches to overcome this challenge, such as combining the die-sinking EDM process with cryogenic treatment, cryogenic cooling, powder-mixed processing, ultrasonic assistance, and other methods. This paper examines the results of these association techniques on various performance measures, such as material removal rate (MRR), tool wear rate (TWR), surface roughness, surface integrity, and recast layer formed during machining, and identifies potential gap areas and proposes a solution. The manuscript is useful for improving performance and introducing new resolutions to the field of EDM machining. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Micro/Nano-Machining: Fundamentals and Recent Advances)
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