Metal Cleaning for Photo Chemical Machining

To quote a PCMI publication G-lOO entitled “Basic Principles of Photo Chemical Machining” section 4.3.2 Metal Cleaning: “The importance of metal treatment and cleaning prior to resist coating cannot be overemphasized. The quality and quantity of the yield depends greatly on the care taken at this step. Thought, time and money spent here will be directly measured by output.” Actually, the process of producing clean metal or cleanable metal begins at the mill. If poor rolling practices, improper annealing. inadequate lubrication and/or improper lubricants are used, no cleaning method short of grinding and lapping will provide a proper surface for imaging. Purchasing and production managers should be sure to specify properly produced stock. What is clean and how clean is clean, are two questions one must ask before any discussion can be generated on cleaners. For our purposes we will define a clean surface as one which will support a layer of water without water breaking or dwelling and which contains no particulate matter.