Highlighting Research Results
By Anna Lynn Spitzer
Irvine, Ca, Feburary 15th, 2013 -- "Microfabrication and metal plating technologies – mainstays of electronic and biomedical devices – are rapidly advancing in complexity and sophistication. Both became a bit more transparent yesterday to an overflow audience at Calit2 during a technology showcase titled “Empowering Electronic, Sensor and Biomedical Devices with Microfabrication and Metal Plating Technologies.”
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Combining microfabrication technology with metal plating and polymer science is leading to improved performance in the miniature devices. The showcase, which was followed by a reception, was jointly sponsored by UC Irvine’s Integrated Nanosystems Research Facility and a Japanese industry consortium that partners with INRF. The event highlighted the field’s latest research results.
The university-industry consortium, led by the Material Surface Engineering Center at Kanto Gakuin University in Japan, includes 40 companies. The group has made huge strides in advanced electroplating technology – the process of chemically applying thin layers of metal to materials to add wear resistance, corrosion protection, finishes or lubrication. For the past seven months, the consortium and INRF have collaborated to develop new micro- and nanomanufacturing technologies.
Researchers at yesterday’s showcase included UCI’s Mark Bachman and MSEC collaborators Kotoku Inoue and Shigeo Onitake. They shared their insights into surface modification techniques, advanced metal plating on polymers and glass, and Cyclo Olefin Polymer for electronic and biomedical applications with 33 UCI faculty researchers, students and potential corporate partners.
“These kinds of programs go a long way toward advancing this rapidly changing field,” said G.P. Li, director of Calit2 Irvine and INRF. “There is great potential for these new manufacturing technologies in the next-generation of micro- and nanodevices. We are making good progress so it’s important to share our results with other researchers and corporations that might benefit.”