Thian, S.C.H.Tang, Y.Fuh, J.Y.H.Wong, Y.S.Lu, L.Loh, H.T.MECHANICAL ENGINEERING2014-06-172014-06-172006-07Thian, S.C.H., Tang, Y., Fuh, J.Y.H., Wong, Y.S., Lu, L., Loh, H.T. (2006-07). Micro-rapid-prototyping via multi-layered photo-lithography. International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology 29 (9-10) : 1026-1032. ScholarBank@NUS Repository. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-005-2620-202683768https://scholarbank.nus.edu.sg/handle/10635/60752Rapid prototyping (RP) is widely used for part fabrication in the normal scale. For fabrication in micro-scale applications such as integrated circuit (IC), micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS), methods such as surface and bulk machining are commonly used. This paper introduces a micro-fabrication technique using the RP principle, i.e., layered manufacturing, combined with mask-based micro-lithography, which is usually used in semiconductor industry. An ultraviolet (UV) excimer laser at the wavelength of 248 nm was used as the light source. A single piece of photo-mask carrying various patterns of multiple layers obtained from slicing a three dimensional (3D) micro-parts was employed for the lithography process. The preliminary results show that a certain RP photopolymer can be applied for the micro-RP, and solid layers with sharp edges can be formed from the liquid photopolymer identified. Using a unique alignment technique, a five layered gear of 1 mm in diameter has been successfully fabricated using the proposed method.Micro-fabricationPhotolithographyPhotomaskPhotopolymerRapid prototypingArticle000239560100022