Research Initiation Award: Reaction, Transport, and Geometry in Electrochemical Micromachining: A Moving- Boundary Analysis Via the Finite Element Method

在微电子工业中，电化学微加工(EMM)在高精度金属零件加工和器件制造中变得越来越重要。然而，输运现象、电流分布以及刀具和工件几何形状之间的复杂相互作用使工程进展变得困难。通常，操作参数的选择是基于经验，主要基于试错法实验方法。对电化学微细加工过程进行了基础理论研究。分析将使用有限元方法同时计算传质，流体流动，势能，几何变化作为一个自洽的数学移动边界问题。以往的类似电化学体系的建模方法一般只考虑流体流动不重要的情况，或者忽略了几何结构变化对体系传质的影响。这项工作的潜在影响是巨大的。先前的计算可用作经济高效的试验台，以评估工艺变化并确定最佳工艺参数，如电流密度、电解液流速和刀具形状。这项工作将促进对EMM的基本理解，并将使微加工技术在许多应用领域得到快速发展。

Electrochemical micromachining (EMM) is becoming increasingly important in the processing of high-precision metallic parts and in device fabrication in the microelectronics industry. However, the complicated interactions of transport phenomena, electric current distribution, and tool and work piece geometry have made engineering advances difficult. Usually, the choice of operating parameters is made empirically, based primarily on trial and error experimental approaches. A fundamental theoretical study of the electrochemical micomatchining process is proposed. The analysis will employ the finite element method to simultaneously calculate mass transport, fluid flow, potential, and geometrical changes as a self-consistent, mathematical moving boundary problem. Past modeling approaches of similar electrochemical systems have generally considered only those cases where fluid flow is unimportant or have ignored the interaction of changing geometry on mass transport in the system. The potential impact of this work is great. A prior calculations can be used as a cost-effective test bed to asses process changes and to determine optimal process parameters, such as current density, electrolyte flow rate, and tool shape. This work will advance the fundamental understanding of EMM and will enable rapid advances of micromachining techniques for many applications.