Hot Embossing is a technique of imprinting microstructures on a substrate (polymer) using a master mold (silicon tool).
Heating Silicon & Polymer above glass transition temperature (Tg). Applying load by pressing the silicon tool on polymer at certain embossing pressure. Cooling the silicon tool and polymer assembly below Tg and de-embossing the tool.
Heat the substrate and mold to just above Tg of the substrate Apply embossing force on the substrate via the mold under vacuum Cool the substrate and mold to just below Tg De-embossing of the mold and substrate
Cost effective Easy manufacturability. Time efficient Fast process. Fabrication of high aspect ratio features. Bio-Compatible surfaces Polymer substrates used. Disposable Low cost for volume production.
Micro-Optics
m-TAS (Micro Total Analysis Systems)
Residual Stress
Very Low
High
Low
Product Comparison
Process Parameters Existing Systems Our System
Jenoptik
Maximum Substrate Size Embossing Force Heating Time Cooling Time 6" < 200kN
EV group
8" 40kN 8" 0 - 200kN ~ 3 minutes ~ 2 minutes
Heating block dimensions and number of cartridges found by a parametric study. 53 heating cartridges (1 kW, 1/2, 10 long) on each heating block of 10 (L) x 10.5 (B) x 4 (H).
Parametric study to determine heating block thickness Parametric study to determine number of cartridges
optimal heating time, prevention of hot spots, and uniform heating on mold and substrate surfaces.
5 heating zones per heating block having different heating power/heat flux.
Zone Configuration obtained using iterative transient FEM thermal analysis in ANSYS. Transient behavior of heating cartridges also taken into account.
Forcing System used to provide embossing force. Forcing provided by a Dual Column Floor Mounted Frame material testing system by Instron Corporation model 5800. Thermal solution incorporated for FEM structural analysis.
Material modeling incorporates Youngs modulus and Poissons ratio variation with temperature.
5
Displacement (Microns)
Cooling Subsystem
15 Ton (52.76 kW) chiller and Temperature Controller used to cool the system within 2 minutes. Cooling plates divided into 5 zones (5 inputs, 5 outputs) to obtain
uniform temperature distribution on the mold and substrate surfaces. optimize cooling time.
Manifolds and flow-meters used to evenly distribute the cooling oil into the cooling plates.
Mini-Vacuum Chamber
Mini vacuum chamber used to provide a clean and moisture free environment during embossing. Mini vacuum chamber can accommodate an 8 substrate.
Control Subsystem
Compact Fieldpoint system and LabVIEW by National Instruments used for data acquisition and control of the main system and individual sub-system.
Monitor
the chiller set-points, the temperature across the master and the substrate, the pressure in the vacuum chamber. the motion (displacement and velocity) of the embossing machine, the flow of the cooling oil through the cooling block, the current through the heater cartridges relief valve of the vacuum chamber.
Control