Microfabrication and Manufacturing

Advanced materials produced at the sub-millimeter scale could provide a means for producing ship sized small modular reactors (SMRs) and stellarator tokamak hybrids for the shipyard and ship of the future. The process of microfabrication is a hybrid of semiconductor and additive manufacturing techniques that allow for the creation of complex, functional, and intricate electromechanical devices. The high-precision method is more or less a proprietary technique that General Physics' partner Microfabrica has developed in its lab in Van Nuys, California.

Layer by layer fabrication involves the step by step electrodeposition of metal. A laser may fuse the metal (melts-not nuclear fusion) powder in some cases. Two-metal processes, a structural metal and a sacrificial metal, form the final part and the scaffold that allow for the temporary formation. There is a three step process for each layer where a photoresist is applied and patterned using a high resolution mask. Electrodeposition then does the rest. Planarization follows and a precision flat cut of two dimensions is made. This process is repeated until a 3D part is formed. A chemical etchant is used; the part is submerged and the sacrificial material is dissolved.

By miniaturizing tokamak or traditional reactor parts and the entire nuclear supply chain, the future direction of small modular reactors, whether fission or fusion, is rich with research areas in physics and engineering. Look for more to come with our collaborations with micron scale manufacturing and nano scale device development too.