Mass production for micro end mills

Micro end milling processes are not economical, as the tools are quickly worn out and their production is too cost-intensive. For this reason a batch-capable manufacturing process has been developed, enabling a simultaneous production of several thousand of silicon carbide (SiC) micro end milling tools. The manufacturing method is a combination of photolithographic structuring of a SiC-wafer and deep reactive ion etching (DRIE). The single tool heads with a height of more than 150 μm and a diameter below 30 μm are afterwards mechanically separated from the wafer and added on a shaft. Main points of this investigation are the performance of the optimized micro end mills, the tool geometry reliability and the milling surfaces quality. A systematic investigation by confo-cal scanning microscopy and scanning electron microscopy ensure a selection and characterisation of the precision geometry of the tools and micro milled structures.