Collaborative Research: Extrusion Roll Imprinting of High Fidelity Nano-scale Features on Continuously Moving Substrates

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Extraordinary mechanical, optical, electrical, magnetic, and thermal properties are possible in materials at the nano-scale. To successfully exploit these useful properties in a wide range of applications, nano-scale features, especially 10 nm and less, must be formed reliably and in a cost-effective manner. Although continuous, roll-to-roll nanoimprinting processes exist for replicating nanofeatures, they are currently limited to ultra violet light curable resins. Additionally, the fidelity of the replication needs considerable improvement. This collaborative research award supports fundamental research to provide the needed knowledge base for the investigation of continuous imprinting of nano-scale features on any type of thermoplastic polymers, reliably. Thermoplastic polymers with versatile physical and chemical properties are highly desired in numerous disposable devices for applications in energy, healthcare, biomedical, chemical, automotive, telecommunication industries. It is anticipated that the results of the project will form the scientific basis to facilitate successful transfer of this novel nanomanufacturing technology to industry. The project will augment curriculum development, particularly in the interdisciplinary area of nanomanufacturing. In addition, it will promote teaching, training, and learning through multidisciplinary approaches and broaden the participation of underrepresented groups including women students.This collaborative research uses a multidisciplinary approach to address the need to manufacture cost-effective nanostructures onto extruded film surfaces. The project will study the variotherm extrusion roll imprinting process as a clear path to scalable nanomanufacturing. It will investigate the fabrication of belt molds with micro/nano features from a planar geometry, study a Leonov type continuum-based constitutive model to capture the nonlinear viscoelastic behavior of the polymer film during roll-to-roll nanoimprinting, and perform molecular dynamics simulation to study the nanocavity filling process. Fundamental contributions are anticipated in the nanoscale dynamics of polymer flow and deformation during continuous imprinting. Specifically, the research will advance understanding of boundary effects (including wall slip) on micro/nano deformation, dynamics of polymer chains under geometrical confinement, viscoelasticity in size scales below 100 nm, multiscale modeling capabilities for non-equilibrium deformation of macromolecules, and control of thermomechanical history in nanofabrication.