Patent ID: 7204911

Claim:
A microcavity-forming system for making microcavities in a wire comprising: a coating station receiving the wire from a source of the wire and applying a polymer coating to the wire, the polymer coating having an outer surface encircling the wire; a mask-forming station receiving the polymer-coated wire from the coating station and blowing moist air over the polymer-coated wire to form air bubbles which result in holes substantially evenly distributed over the outer surface of the polymer coating, thereby creating a mask, the mask forming station including: a chamber to create a controlled atmosphere around the polymer-coated wire; a blower to blow moist air over the polymer coated wire; and rotating means to rotate the polymer-coated wire as it is drawn through the chamber; an etching station receiving the wire, as coated with the polymer mask, from the mask-forming station and etching the wire through the holes in the polymer mask to form microcavities in the wire; and a stripping station receiving the wire from the etching station and removing the polymer mask from the wire, leaving the wire with microcavities.