| In recent years, there has been an increased interest in the field of pyrolyzed photoresist carbon structures which are fabricated by the photo patterning of a negative epoxy-based photoresist, through optimized standard ultraviolet photolithography. These high-carbon microstructures can be easily fabricated and have a distinguished potential use as the active components of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) devices.;Carbon microelectromechanical systems can be described as the set of methods that can be used to derive glass-like carbon structures from patterned organic polymers such as SU-8, which can be developed in a wide range of dimensions from hundreds of micrometers down to tens of nanometers and in 3D multi-layer structures. In the research reported here, we will specifically focus on integration of metal (such as chromium, titanium, gold and aluminum) with glassy-carbon MEMS structures. To enable hybrid structures where carbon is used for electrochemistry whereas, the metal traces will be used for conducting current. The problem of adhesion between these components has been investigated in two different ways. The first, mechanical interlocking, occurs when polymer flows around 3D fabricated microstructures on the surface. In second mechanism, chemical bonding, results when adsorption and surface reaction increase bonding between glassy-carbon and metal layer. Integration of metal/carbon enables impeccable control on the dimensions and elaboration of MEMS devices. Carbon structures have numerous applications, from energy to healthcare diagnostics including neural electrodes, capacitors, batteries and a number of electrochemical sensors. Moreover, carbon based photo patterned resists which can be pyrolyzed at different temperatures and different ambient atmospheres coupled with metal will give new capability of fabricating MEMS devices in an easy, cheap and robust way. |
