Electrochemical etching using laser masking for multilayered structures on stainless steel

This paper proposes a novel process for electrochemical etching of metal without a need for photo-mask. Electrochemical etching using laser masking (EELM) process includes laser masking and anodic dissolution. In the laser masking step, a patterned layer on a stainless steel surface was formed by laser marking using a pulsed fiber laser. This patterned surface was selectively dissolved during the electrochemical etching step because the laser marked area temporarily acted as a protective mask. To fabricate microstructures, the appropriate conditions for stable EELM process were determined. Consequently, multilayered structures were successfully achieved by recursive EELM process without any requirement for a photo-lithography process.