Silicon micro‐velcro

Silicon micromachining technology has been employed to fabricate dense, regular arrays of microstructures which act as mechanical adhesives. Structures such as that shown in the figure have potential applications in the biocompatible bonding of human tissue during surgery, their barb‐like nature preventing retraction. A second approach, using mating structures, provides precision self‐alligning, room‐temperature bonding with potential in the mounting of integrated circuit chips. magnified image