The Photochemical Etching Process

The photochemical etching process is one of the preferred methods for producing thin metal parts with simple or complex designs for the electronics, automotive, medical, R/F microwave, and aerospace industries. This subtractive process, also known as photochemical machining, chemical milling, chemical etching, and photochemical etching, is a multi-step operation. There are seven steps in the process, photo tooling, metal prep, exposure, developing, etching, stripping, and inspection.  This precision metal etching process provides quality photo etched products to meet compliance standards for products that need safety, strength, ductility, conductivity, and resistance to harsh elements.

1. The Photochemical
Etching Process
Phototool
Metal Prep
03
01
02
04
05
Stripping
The part's CAD design is
transferred onto two pieces of
mylar film which is used to
transpose the part images
onto the metal.
The metal is laminated with a
photoresist film and sandwiched
between the two phototools.  All
three pieces are placed under a UV
light where it hardens only the
sections of the tooling onto the
metal where the part will remain.
Each piece of metal is
thoroughly cleaned and
scrubbed in a machine using
high water pressure with a mild
soap solution to eliminate any
residual oils and contaminants.
Etching
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METALETCHING.COM
Exposure
Developing
STEP
06
STEP
07
Inspection
The sheets move through a
developing machine where an
alkaline solution washes away the
top and bottom film on each
sheet of metal where the sections
of the part will dissolve during the
etching process.
The metal sheets are fed through
an etcher. The exposed bare metal
is etched away using a ferric
chloride solution spray on both
sides of the metal sheets.
The etched sheets or dropout
pieces are placed in a tank full of
sodium hydroxide-based solution
to remove the remaining
photoresist film.
The part's surface, dimensions
and tolerances are inspected
using digital calipers, gages, and
electronic equipment.
STEP
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