October 18, 2005, Billerica, MA--Axsun Technologies, Inc., a manufacturer of micro-optoelectronic products, has received a $2.5 million contract from the U.S. Army to develop and implement technologies for automated assembly of micromechanical devices. Axsun is currently working with the Army to develop advanced versions of the LIGA process, a technology for fabricating highly precise microcomponents from metals and plastics.
LIGA combines lithography, electroforming, and molding (the name is a German acronym for these processes). Parts made by LIGA can consist of various metals and metal oxides. Minimum feature sizes are about 20 microns, with smaller feature sizes (down to a micron) possible; overall part size can be up to a couple of inches, with a minimum thickness of 100 microns.
Axsun's Livermore, California facility produces many of the LIGA mounting structures used in Axsun's IntegraSpec NIR spectrometer and telecommunications optical monitors as well as miniature devices and components for a variety of commercial and military applications.
"This contract extends the work we are doing for the US Army, developing a low-cost safe and arming answer for improved munitions," explained Jack Kay, Axsun's president and CEO. "With experience from the Army development, the processes being developed at Axsun will improve micro-parts manufacturing technology for a wide variety of applications."
The Axsun-West LIGA foundry has been shipping high-precision metal components to corporate and government customers at a rate in excess of 10,000 devices and components per month and is expanding its capabilities to create micron-scale feature fidelity.