Production of seismic mass suspensions in silicon by electro-discharge machining

Currently, nearly all microcomponents are Fabricated by technologies such a s etching, deposition, or other photolithographic techniques. In this way, the main emphasis has been in trying to fabricate micromechanic devices fro m a two-dimensional image. The major challenge for the future will be the d evelopment of real three-dimensional microstructures. Electro-discharge mac hining is a so-called non-conventional machining technique, whereby materia l is removed through the erosive action of sparks. As shown in this paper, electro-discharge machining proves to be a versatile technique that is very well suited for machining complex microstructures.