The present invention relates to surface roughening methods and more particularly to a method for electrochemical roughening of thin film macro- and micro-electrodes. In one embodiment, an electrochemical etch template is formed comprising polymer particles adsorbed on a surface of a substrate to be roughened, followed by electrochemically etching of exposed regions of the substrate between the polymer particles in the electrochemical etch template so as to selectively roughen the surface of the substrate. In another embodiment, a surface of the electrode is immersed in either a adsorbing acidic solution, such as sulfuric acid, or a non-adsorbing acidic solution, such as perchloric acid, followed by electrochemically pulse etching the surface of the substrate at a narrow frequency range for adsorbing acidic solutions, or at a wide frequency range for non-adsorbing acidic solutions.

The present invention relates to surface roughening methods and more particularly to a method for electrochemical roughening of thin film macro- and micro-electrodes. In one embodiment, an electrochemical etch template is formed comprising polymer particles adsorbed on a surface of a substrate to be roughened, followed by electrochemically etching of exposed regions of the substrate between the polymer particles in the electrochemical etch template so as to selectively roughen the surface of the substrate. In another embodiment, a surface of the electrode is immersed in either a adsorbing acidic solution, such as sulfuric acid, or a non-adsorbing acidic solution, such as perchloric acid, followed by electrochemically pulse etching the surface of the substrate at a narrow frequency range for adsorbing acidic solutions, or at a wide frequency range for non-adsorbing acidic solutions.

A method of forming a surface texture includes arranging a flexible mask (610, 920) with a pattern over a surface (621) of a component (620); and performing electrochemical etching on the surface (621) of the component (620) to form a surface texture on the surface (621) according to the pattern of the flexible mask.

A method of forming a surface texture includes arranging a flexible mask (610, 920) with a pattern over a surface (621) of a component (620); and performing electrochemical etching on the surface (621) of the component (620) to form a surface texture on the surface (621) according to the pattern of the flexible mask.

A process for creating an anode foil for use in an electrolytic capacitor of an implantable cardioverter defibrillator is provided. The process includes placing a partially masked bulk metal foil in an etch electrolyte solution to etch exposed area of the bulk metal foil, removing the etch-resistant mask to expose the unetched areas, widening the bulk metal foil, and partially cutting the bulk metal foil between a plurality of unetched areas to form a partially detached etched foil anode, such that the unetched areas are not cut and the unetched areas serve as attachment tabs to keep the partially detached etched foil anode attached to the bulk metal foil. Additionally, the process may include an oxide formation step, wherein the step of partially cutting the bulk metal foil is performed after the etching and widening steps, and before the oxide formation step.

A process (30) for producing a distributor plate (1) for an electrochemical system, wherein the distributor plate (1) has at least one metal foil (2) having a first surface (3) and a second surface (4) and the process (30) has the following process steps: a) pretreatment (31) of the metal foil (2); b) mask formation (32) at least on the first surface (3) of the pretreated metal foil (2); c) structure formation (33) at least on the first surface (3) of the metal foil (2) provided with the mask (10), as a result of which a first fluid distributor structure (5) is formed; d) mask removal (36).

A process (30) for producing a distributor plate (1) for an electrochemical system, wherein the distributor plate (1) has at least one metal foil (2) having a first surface (3) and a second surface (4) and the process (30) has the following process steps: a) pretreatment (31) of the metal foil (2); b) mask formation (32) at least on the first surface (3) of the pretreated metal foil (2); c) structure formation (33) at least on the first surface (3) of the metal foil (2) provided with the mask (10), as a result of which a first fluid distributor structure (5) is formed; d) mask removal (36).

A pore forming method in which a pore is formed in such a way that a first voltage is applied between electrodes that are disposed with a film in an electrolytic solution therebetween; a second voltage, which is lower than the first voltage, is applied between the electrodes; a current that flows between the electrodes owing to the application of the second voltage is measured; it is judged whether a value of a current is equal to or larger than a predefined threshold; and if the value of the current is smaller than the threshold, the above sequence is repeated until a pore is formed. In this case, the second voltage is a voltage that makes the value (I.sub.PF) of the current flowing through the film practically 0. With the use of the above method, a nanopore is formed in the film simply, easily, and accurately.

A pore forming method in which a pore is formed in such a way that a first voltage is applied between electrodes that are disposed with a film in an electrolytic solution therebetween; a second voltage, which is lower than the first voltage, is applied between the electrodes; a current that flows between the electrodes owing to the application of the second voltage is measured; it is judged whether a value of a current is equal to or larger than a predefined threshold; and if the value of the current is smaller than the threshold, the above sequence is repeated until a pore is formed. In this case, the second voltage is a voltage that makes the value (I.sub.PF) of the current flowing through the film practically 0. With the use of the above method, a nanopore is formed in the film simply, easily, and accurately.

In some examples, a method includes forming a photoresist layer on a surface of a metallic substrate and developing the photoresist layer to define a pattern exposing a portion of the surface of the metallic substrate. The method also may include forming an electrically conductive layer on a surface of the photoresist layer and the exposed portions of the surface of the metallic substrate. The electrically conductive layer contacts the exposed portions of the surface of the metallic substrate. The method may further include submerging the substrate, the photoresist layer, and the electrically conductive layer in an electrolyte solution; and applying a voltage to between a cathode and an anode submerged in the electrolyte solution to anisotropically etch the metallic substrate where the electrically conductive layer contacts the exposed portions of the surface of the metallic substrate to form at least one feature in the metallic substrate.