Fabrication of Complex 3-D Microstructures

We have developed a general method of fabricating microstructures that require complex, three-dimensional shapes in metal. This method involves decomposition of the structure into sections that are printed onto tangent surfaces (cylinders and planes), and generated as wires by electrodeposition. Following deposition, the structures are released by dissolving the templates. Examples of structures include a chain mail composed of links made up of 100 µm wires, and metallic knots of arbitrary complexity.