The rapid progress of micro/nanoelectronic systems and miniaturized portable devices has tremendously increased the urgent demands for miniaturized and integrated power supplies. Miniaturized energy storage devices (MESDs), with their excellent properties and additional intelligent functions, are considered to be the preferable energy supplies for uninterrupted powering of microsystems. In this review, we aim to provide a comprehensive overview of the background, fundamentals, device configurations, manufacturing processes, and typical applications of MESDs, including their recent advances. Particular attention is paid to advanced device configurations, such as two-dimensional (2D) stacked, 2D planar interdigital, 2D arbitrary-shaped, three-dimensional planar, and wire-shaped structures, and their corresponding manufacturing strategies, such as printing, scribing, and masking techniques. Additionally, recent developments in MESDs, including microbatteries and microsupercapacitors, as well as microhybrid metal ion capacitors, are systematically summarized. A series of on-chip microsystems, created by integrating functional MESDs, are also highlighted. Finally, the remaining challenges and future research scope on MESDs are discussed.

This paper presents a new technique, termed femtosecond laser shock peening ablation in liquids (fs-LSPAL), which can realize simultaneous crack micro/nanomanufacturing and hierarchical micro/nanolaser ablation, giving rise to the formation of diverse multiscale hierarchical structures, such as macroporous ratcheted structures and en ′echelon microfringes decorated with parabolic nanoripples. Through analysis of surface morphologies, many phenomena have been confirmed to take place during fs-LSPAL, including en ′echelon cracks, nanostriation, ripple densification, crack branching, and selective formation of high spatial frequency laser-induced periodic surface structures of 100–200 nm in period. At a high laser power of 700 mW, fs-LSPAL at scanning speeds of 0.2 mm·s^-1 and 1 mm·s^-1 enables the generation of height-fluctuated and height-homogeneous hierarchical structures, respectively. The height-fluctuated structures can be used to induce ‘colony’ aggregates of embryonic EB3 stem cells. At 200 mW, fs-LSPAL at 1 mm·s^-1 is capable of producing homogeneous tilt macroporous structures with cracked structures interleaved among them, which are the synergistic effects of bubble-induced light refraction/reflection ablation and cracks. As shown in this paper, the conventional laser ablation technique integrated with its self-driven unconventional cracking under extreme conditions expands the horizons of extreme manufacturing and offers more opportunities for complex surface structuring, which can potentially be used for biological applications.

Large-sized potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KDP) crystals are an irreplaceable nonlinear optical component in an inertial confinement fusion project. Restricted by the size, previous studies have been aimed mainly at the removal principle and surface roughness of small-sized KDP crystals, with less research on flatness. Due to its low surface damage and high machining efficiency, water dissolution ultraprecision continuous polishing (WDUCP) has become a good technique for processing large-sized KDP crystals. In this technique, the trajectory uniformity of water droplets can directly affect the surface quality, such as flatness and roughness. Specifically, uneven trajectory distribution of water droplets on the surface of KDP crystals derived from the mode of motion obviously affects the surface quality. In this study, the material removal mechanism of WDUCP was introduced. A simulation of the trajectory of water droplets on KDP crystals under different eccentricity modes of motion was then performed. Meanwhile, the coefficient of variation (CV) was utilized to evaluate the trajectory uniformity. Furthermore, to verify the reliability of the simulation, some experimental tests were also conducted by employing a large continuous polisher. The results showed that the CV varied from 0.67 to 2.02 under the certain eccentricity mode of motion and varied from 0.48 to 0.65 under the uncertain eccentricity mode of motion. The CV of uncertain eccentricity is always smaller than that of certain eccentricity. Hence, the uniformity of trajectory was better under uncertain eccentricity. Under the mode of motion of uncertain eccentricity, the initial surface texture of the 100 mm × 100 mm × 10 mm KDP crystal did achieve uniform planarization. The surface root mean square roughness was reduced to 2.182 nm, and the flatness was reduced to 22.013 μm. Therefore, the feasibility and validity of WDUCP for large-sized KDP crystal were verified.

This paper reports the performance enhancement benefits in diamond turning of the silicon wafer by incorporation of the surface defect machining (SDM) method. The hybrid micromachining methods usually require additional hardware to leverage the added advantage of hybrid technologies such as laser heating, cryogenic cooling, electric pulse or ultrasonic elliptical vibration. The SDM method tested in this paper does not require any such additional baggage and is easy to implement in a sequential micro-machining mode. This paper made use of Raman spectroscopy data, average surface roughness data and imaging data of the cutting chips of silicon for drawing a comparison between conventional single-point diamond turning (SPDT) and SDM while incorporating surface defects in the (i) circumferential and (ii) radial directions. Complementary 3D finite element analysis (FEA) was performed to analyse the cutting forces and the evolution of residual stress on the machined wafer. It was found that the surface defects generated in the circumferential direction with an interspacing of 1 mm revealed the lowest average surface roughness (Ra) of 3.2 nm as opposed to 8 nm Ra obtained through conventional SPDT using the same cutting parameters. The observation of the Raman spectroscopy performed on the cutting chips showed remnants of phase transformation during the micromachining process in all cases. FEA was used to extract quantifiable information about the residual stress as well as the sub-surface integrity and it was discovered that the grooves made in the circumferential direction gave the best machining performance. The information being reported here is expected to provide an avalanche of opportunities in the SPDT area for low-cost machining solution for a range of other nominal hard, brittle materials such as SiC, ZnSe and GaAs as well as hard steels.

Particulate-reinforced metal matrix composites (PRMMCs) are difficult to machine due to the inclusion of hard, brittle reinforcing particles. Existing experimental investigations rarely reveal the complex material removal mechanisms (MRMs) involved in the machining of PRMMCs. This paper develops a three-dimensional (3D) microstructure-based model for investigating the MRM and surface integrity of machined PRMMCs. To accurately mimic the actual microstructure of a PRMMC, polyhedrons were randomly distributed inside the matrix to represent irregular SiC particles. Particle fracture and matrix deformation and failure were taken into account. For the model’s capability comparison, a two-dimensional (2D) analysis was also conducted. Relevant cutting experiments showed that the established 3D model accurately predicted the material removal, chip morphology, machined surface finish, and cutting forces. It was found that the matrix-particle-tool interactions led to particle fractures, mainly in the primary shear and secondary deformation zones along the cutting path and beneath the machined surface. Particle fracture and dilodegment greatly influences the quality of a machined surface. It was also found that although a 2D model can reflect certain material removal features, its ability to predict microstructural variation is limited.

Single crystal silicon carbide (SiC) is widely used for optoelectronics applications. Due to the anisotropic characteristics of single crystal materials, the C face and Si face of single crystal SiC have different physical properties, which may fit for particular application purposes. This paper presents an investigation of the material removal and associated subsurface defects in a set of scratching tests on the C face and Si face of 4H-SiC and 6H-SiC materials using molecular dynamics simulations. The investigation reveals that the sample material deformation consists of plastic, amorphous transformations and dislocation slips that may be prone to brittle split. The results showed that the material removal at the C face is more effective with less amorphous deformation than that at the Si face. Such a phenomenon in scratching relates to the dislocations on the basal plane (0001) of the SiC crystal. Subsurface defects were reduced by applying scratching cut depths equal to integer multiples of a half molecular lattice thickness, which formed a foundation for selecting machining control parameters for the best surface quality.

A unique plasma figuring (PF) process was created and demonstrated at Cranfield University for manufacturing extremely large telescopes. The atmospheric pressure processing is faster and more cost-effective than other finishing processes; thus, providing an important alternative for large optical surfaces. The industrial scale manufacturing of thousands of ultra-precision metre-scale optics requires a robust PF machine: this requirement is achieved by making the plasma delivery system (PDS) performance repeatable. In this study, a dedicated PDS for large optical manufacturing was proposed to meet the industrial requirement. The PDS is based on an L-type radiofrequency (RF) network, a power supply, and an inductively coupled plasma torch. However, the complexities of these technologies require an in depth understanding of the integrated components that from the PDS. A smart control system for the modified PDS was created. This novel control system aims to make the characterization process deterministic: by automating the tuning of critical electrical components in the RF network, which is achieved by the use of in-line metrology. This paper describes the main design aspects. The PDS was tested with a good correlation between capacitance and RF frequencies. The robust PDS design enables a stable discharge of plasma with a low deviation of RF signals during the total 15 hours’ test.