JME_V1_N2_RP3 Vivek Jain A.K. Sharma Pradeep Kumar Journal on Mechanical Engineering 2249 - 0744 1 2 24 32 MEMS, Advanced Materials, Ultrasonic Micromachining, Surface Characterisation A comprehensive understanding of the materials and their processing helps efficient fabrication of component in micro devices such as microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). Silicon is one of the widely used materials to create many integrated circuits used in consumer electronics in the modern world. Glass and titanium are two other materials widely used in fabrication of MEMS which usually exhibit very high degree of reliability. However, one of the most challenging tasks for MEMS industries is to find new methods for machining such difficult-to-process materials. This paper explores a non-thermal and non-chemical approach to machine these materials using ultrasonic micromachining (USMM). In the current work, microdrilling was carried out on silicon, glass and titanium using USMM. Machinablity aspects while drilling holes have been analysed in terms of study of surface roughness and tool wear. The process yielded a surface finish upto 2.08 micro metre, while the highest tool wear among the attempted materials was observed while machining relatively ductile titanium. The study proves the viability of micro drilling of the target materials with parametric analysis. A brief review of different materials used for MEMS, their suitability and processing challenges has been presented. February - April 2011 Copyright © 2011 i-manager publications. All rights reserved. i-manager Publications http://www.imanagerpublications.com/Article.aspx?ArticleId=1404