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Microfabrication of ionic polymer actuators by selective plasma irradiation
Author(s) -
Kikuchi Kunitomo,
Taniguchi Tomohisa,
Miki Hirofumi,
Tsuchitani Shigeki,
Asaka Kinji
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
ieej transactions on electrical and electronic engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.254
H-Index - 30
eISSN - 1931-4981
pISSN - 1931-4973
DOI - 10.1002/tee.22009
Subject(s) - stencil , microfabrication , materials science , microelectromechanical systems , fabrication , plating (geology) , electrode , irradiation , plasma , nanotechnology , polymer , resist , optoelectronics , membrane , photoresist , composite material , computer science , chemistry , layer (electronics) , medicine , biochemistry , alternative medicine , physics , computational science , pathology , quantum mechanics , geophysics , geology , nuclear physics
A novel method for fabricating a miniaturized ionic polymer–metal composite (IPMC) with plated gold electrodes is developed by combining selective plasma irradiation and electroless plating. The membrane is irradiated by SF 6 or CF 4 plasmas through a stencil mask prior to plating to prevent deposition of a gold electrode in the plasma‐irradiated area. Miniaturized IPMCs are fabricated with a 400‐µm‐wide line‐and‐space pattern. The proposed method has the potential to realize miniaturized IPMCs combined with microelectromechanical system (MEMS) devices because this provides a direct and simple fabrication process. © 2014 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.