LIGA is a fabrication technology used to create high-aspect-ratio microstructures. The term is a German acronym for Lithographie, Galvanoformung, Abformung – lithography, electroplating, and molding.

LIGA consists of three main processing steps: lithography, electroplating, and molding. There are two main LIGA-fabrication technologies: X-Ray LIGA, which uses X-rays produced by a synchrotron to create high-aspect-ratio structures, and UV LIGA, a more accessible method which uses ultraviolet light to create structures with relatively low aspect ratios.

Notable characteristics of X-ray LIGA-fabricated structures include:

X-Ray LIGA is a fabrication process in microtechnology that was developed in the early 1980s by a team under the leadership of Erwin Willy Becker and Wolfgang Ehrfeld at the Institute for Nuclear Process Engineering (Institut für Kernverfahrenstechnik, IKVT) at the Karlsruhe Nuclear Research Center, since renamed to the Institute for Microstructure Technology (Institut für Mikrostrukturtechnik, IMT) at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). LIGA was one of the first major techniques to allow on-demand manufacturing of high-aspect-ratio structures (structures that are much taller than wide) with lateral precision below one micrometer.

In the process, an X-ray sensitive polymer photoresist, typically PMMA, bonded to an electrically conductive substrate, is exposed to parallel beams of high-energy X-rays from a synchrotron radiation source through a mask partly covered with a strong X-ray absorbing material. Chemical removal of exposed (or unexposed) photoresist results in a three-dimensional structure, which can be filled by the electrodeposition of metal. The resist is chemically stripped away to produce a metallic mold insert. The mold insert can be used to produce parts in polymers or ceramics through injection molding.

The LIGA technique's unique value is the precision obtained by the use of deep X-ray lithography (DXRL). The technique enables microstructures with high aspect ratios and high precision to be fabricated in a variety of materials (metals, plastics, and ceramics). Many of its practitioners and users are associated with, or are located close to, synchrotron facilities.

UV LIGA utilizes an inexpensive ultraviolet light source, like a mercury lamp, to expose a polymer photoresist, typically SU-8. Because heating and transmittance are not an issue in optical masks, a simple chromium mask can be substituted for the technically sophisticated X-ray mask. These reductions in complexity make UV LIGA much cheaper and more accessible than its X-ray counterpart. However, UV LIGA is not as effective at producing precision molds and is thus used when cost must be kept low and very high aspect ratios are not required.

X-ray masks are composed of a transparent low-Z carrier, a patterned high-Z absorber, and a metallic ring for alignment and heat removal. Due to extreme temperature variations induced by the X-ray exposure, carriers are fabricated from materials with high thermal conductivity to reduce thermal gradients. Currently^[when?], vitreous carbon and graphite are considered the best material, as their use significantly reduces side-wall roughness. Silicon, silicon nitride, titanium, and diamond are also used as carrier substrates but not preferred, as the required thin membranes are comparatively fragile and titanium masks tend to round sharp features due to edge fluorescence. Absorbers are gold, nickel, copper, tin, lead, and other X-ray-absorbing metals.