Abrasion plays an important role in the manufacture and use of certain microstructures. In this paper, we explore the nano-scale abrasion characteristics of Al, Si, Pyrex™ glass, and glass-mica ceramic (Macor™), using a commercial scribing tool adapted to provide controlled velocity and force, and accurate positioning for abrasion utilizing two abrasion heads: a diamond facet edge and a custom alumina-grit head. While Al is easily abraded, it tends to create build-up of material along the edges. Silicon provides triangular clean groves with minimum widths ≈ 460 nm. Macor provides scalloped grooves that show some chipping and have minimum widths of ≈ 320 nm. Glass provides clean, rounded grooves, with minimum widths of ≈ 200 nm. This paper also describes how controlled abrasion can be exploited for the non-lithographic fabrication of nanochannels which are of interest in several fluidic devices.
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