Advantages of UV-LIGA

Thanks to the special features of the UV-LIGA micromoulding technology, mould inserts can be produced with one or more high precision cavities. The mould cavity obtained by electroforming offers hardness and wear resistance, allowing a wide variety of polymers to be injected.

Design

Mould cavities made using UV-LIGA technology can have very complex geometries with some extremely delicate microstructures, especially for microfluidic applications. This technology not only permits great design freedom but also guarantees high precision in the final geometry of the mould cavity. Precision holes for ejector pins, as well as housings for positioning pins, can be easily integrated.

Dimensions

The dimensions of the micromoulds vary from one application to another. In medical applications, imprints can be as large as 2000 mm². In contrast, quartz movement components can be up to 10 times smaller. The thinness of the walls or channels can be as small as 30 µm. The thickness of the process can reach a maximum of 1 mm.

Materials

Most of our micromoulds are made from electroformed nickel with a hardness of 550 HV. They guarantee good wear-resistance and geometrical compliance when undergoing hundreds of thousands of injection moulding cycles. Biocompatible coatings are currently being studied.