Powder blasting for three-dimensional microstructuring of glass

We report on powder blasting as a promising technology for the three-dimensional structuring of brittle materials. We investigate the basic parameters of this process, which is based on the erosion of a masked substrate by a high-velocity eroding powder beam, using glass substrates. We study the effect of various parameters on the etching rate, like the powder velocity and the mask feature size, which induces geometrical effects to the erosion process. We introduce oblique powder blasting and investigate, in particular, sidewall effects of the micropatterned structures. A few examples of devices micromachined by powder blasting are also presented. Keywords: Sand blasting; Powder blasting; Microfabrication; Erosion; Etching