Rapid Fabrication of 2-D Magnetic Microstructures by Laser Direct Writing (LDW)

A 2-D permalloy (Ni
₈₁
Fe
₁₉
) microstructures have been patterned using laser direct writing (LDW). The magnetic structures were designed and fabricated in a single-step process using scanning stage system based on A3200 software from a thin film. This process was implemented under atmospheric conditions and room temperature by removing unwanted areas of thin film by laser ablation. The 2-D magnetic structures included: arrays of squares, rectangles with a range of aspect ratios, and rhombic elements. These elements exhibited shape-sensitive magnetic behavior with the increase in shape aspect ratio. The average fabrication time per element was 0.47 ms at a scanning speed of 7.5 mm/s and a laser repetition rate of 6 kHz. This demonstration of flexibility and speed of laser direct write processing being applied to magnetic microstructures may assist in prototyping and rapid manufacture of devices such as sensors and magnetic wires for interactions with biological cells.