Patent ID: 8685266

Claim:
A monocyclic inductively coupled plasma titanium etch and rapid micromachining method, comprising: providing a masked and patterned bulk titanium substrate; and inductively coupled plasma (ICP) etching said bulk titanium substrate with a gas composition comprising chlorine gas (Cl 2 ) and Argon (Ar), at an ICP source power ranging from about 100 W to 800 W, a Radio Frequency (RF) sample power ranging from about 50 W to 400 W, a pressure ranging from about 0.5 Pa to 4.0 Pa, a chlorine gas flow rate ranging from about 20 standard cubic centimeters per minute (sccm) to 120 sccm, an Ar flow rate up to 5 sccm, with the gas composition ranging from about 50% to 100% chlorine, and combing the ICP source power having an ICP frequency with the RF power having an RF frequency, wherein the titanium substrate is masked with a mask selectivity of no less than 40:1 (titanium:mask), a rate of the inductively coupled plasma etching is in excess of two microns per minute, and one or more structures with a height greater than their width and vertical or tapered sidewalls are created on the titanium substrate.