Mask materials for powder blasting

Powder blasting, or abrasive jet machining (AJM), is a technique in which a particle jet is directed towards a target for mechanical material removal. It is a fast, cheap and accurate directional etch technique for brittle materials such as glass, silicon and ceramics. The particle jet (which expands to about 1 cm in diameter) can be optimized for etching, while the mask defines the small and complex structures. The quality of the mask influences the performance of powder blasting. In this study we tested and compared several mask types and added a new one: electroplated copper. The latter combines a highly resistant mask material for powder blasting with the high-resolution capabilities of lithography, which makes it possible to obtain an accurate pattern transfer and small feature sizes (<50 µm).