1995 Volume 13 Issue 1 Pages 46-53
Micrometer sized melting process is available to micro-welding for manufacturing microme-chanical systems. This report describes an in-situ observation of the micrometer sized melting phenomena by micro-discharge with a thin tungsten (W) electrode in a SEM vacuum environment. By the cathode electrode a melting spot can be formed on the surface of the specimen. Diameters of melting spots depend on the amount of discharge energy. Consequently, in the range of 1 μm to 10 μm, the diameter of a melting spot can be controlled by selecting the pulse condition. Additionally, a weld bead like melted-zone can be formed by applying repeated pulsed voltage between an electrode and a specimen. The width of a melted-zone depends on pulse voltage, pulse width, repetition frequency, and traveling velocity of an electrode.
