A novel process for continuous thermal embossing of large‐area nanopatterns onto polymer films

Hot embossing and nanoimprinting processes are being widely practiced in industry. Fast and reliable production of micro/nanofeatured patterns on large‐area polymer films is of a great importance. In this study, a novel roll‐to‐roll thermal imprinting process was developed, capable of providing a mold‐heating rate of 125°C/s with sufficient temperature control to produce large‐area patterns continuously at a rapid production rate. With this new process, selected micro/nano patterns were produced on a polyethylene terephthalate film at a production rate exceeding 1 m/min. The roller mold temperature played a profound role in affecting the replication quality. To achieve good feature transfer properties, an elevated roller mold temperature approaching the melting temperature of the polymer was found to be critical. Microcavity filling time calculation further revealed that the elevated roller mold temperature is also necessary for achieving a rapid film feed rate as desired in the continuous roll‐to‐roll process. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Adv Polym Techn 28:246–256, 2009; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/adv.20167