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Replicative manufacturing of metal moulds for low surface roughness polymer replication

Author

Listed:
  • Sebastian Kluck

    (Department of Microsystems Engineering (IMTEK) University of Freiburg, Georges-Köhler-Allee 103)

  • Leonhard Hambitzer

    (Department of Microsystems Engineering (IMTEK) University of Freiburg, Georges-Köhler-Allee 103)

  • Manuel Luitz

    (Department of Microsystems Engineering (IMTEK) University of Freiburg, Georges-Köhler-Allee 103)

  • Markus Mader

    (Department of Microsystems Engineering (IMTEK) University of Freiburg, Georges-Köhler-Allee 103)

  • Mario Sanjaya

    (Glassomer GmbH, Georges-Köhler-Allee 103)

  • Andreas Balster

    (Gemeinnützige KIMW Forschungs-GmbH Lutherstraße 7)

  • Marcel Milich

    (Institute for Applied Materials (IAM) Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) Kaiserstraße 12)

  • Christian Greiner

    (Institute for Applied Materials (IAM) Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) Kaiserstraße 12)

  • Frederik Kotz-Helmer

    (Department of Microsystems Engineering (IMTEK) University of Freiburg, Georges-Köhler-Allee 103
    Glassomer GmbH, Georges-Köhler-Allee 103)

  • Bastian E. Rapp

    (Department of Microsystems Engineering (IMTEK) University of Freiburg, Georges-Köhler-Allee 103
    Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg, Stefan-Meier-Straße 21
    Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg, Georges-Köhler-Allee 105)

Abstract

Tool based manufacturing processes like injection moulding allow fast and high-quality mass-market production, but for optical polymer components the production of the necessary tools is time-consuming and expensive. In this paper a process to fabricate metal-inserts for tool based manufacturing with smooth surfaces via a casting and replication process from fused silica templates is presented. Bronze, brass and cobalt-chromium could be successfully replicated from shaped fused silica replications achieving a surface roughnesses of Rq 8 nm and microstructures in the range of 5 µm. Injection moulding was successfully performed, using a commercially available injection moulding system, with thousands of replicas generated from the same tool. In addition, three-dimensional bodies in metal could be realised with 3D-Printing of fused silica casting moulds. This work thus represents an approach to high-quality moulding tools via a scalable facile and cost-effective route surpassing the currently employed cost-, labour- and equipment-intensive machining techniques.

Suggested Citation

  • Sebastian Kluck & Leonhard Hambitzer & Manuel Luitz & Markus Mader & Mario Sanjaya & Andreas Balster & Marcel Milich & Christian Greiner & Frederik Kotz-Helmer & Bastian E. Rapp, 2022. "Replicative manufacturing of metal moulds for low surface roughness polymer replication," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-7, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:13:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-022-32767-2
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-32767-2
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    Cited by:

    1. Oksana Smirnova & Roman Sajzew & Sarah Jasmin Finkelmeyer & Teymur Asadov & Sayan Chattopadhyay & Torsten Wieduwilt & Aaron Reupert & Martin Presselt & Alexander Knebel & Lothar Wondraczek, 2024. "Micro-optical elements from optical-quality ZIF-62 hybrid glasses by hot imprinting," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-11, December.

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