Application of USM to micromachining by on-the-machine tool fabrication

Most machining methods have difficulties in machining hard, brittle materials such as glass, ceramics, <.md silicon. Ultrasonic machining (USM) is a unique method from this point of view, because it easily machines these materials. However, US.M has a lilnitation in its application to micromachining because there moe problems in fixing microtools to the machine <.md maintaining high precision. In this paper we propose a technique of micro-USIvI by applying on-the-machine tool fabrication by wire electrodischm'ge glinding (WEDG). As a result, we were able to make microholes as small as 20}lm in diameter on a silicon plate. Additional expeliments revealed the possibility of wide application.