S.J. Furst
Smart Material Solutions, LLC,
United States
Keywords: roll-to-roll, nanoimprint, anti-dust, anti-reflective, light capture, nanopatterning, seamless molds
Summary:
Smart Material Solutions, LLC (SMS) can manufacture game-changing nanotechnologies that have been stuck in the lab for the first time by combining its high-speed nanopatterning process – called nanocoining – and roll-to-roll fabrication. Over the past 5 years, SMS has conducted extensive R&D in three primary application areas: dust-mitigating nanostructures for lunar vehicles, light trapping patterns for high value solar panels, and plasmonic metamaterials for advanced defense applications. This talk will discuss current results on these projects, the challenges of balancing application requirements with manufacturing realities, and our effort to find a sustainable business model for a platform technology. SMS’s core technology, nanocoining, gives us the unique ability to pattern seamless metal drum molds with features ranging between 200 nm and 10 um pitch and aspect ratios (height to pitch) up to 0.6. At present, these drums are up to 6” diameter and 6” width, with potential to scale much larger. Form factors include self-supporting drums, nickel and copper sleeves, shims cut to size, or seamless cylindrical photomasks to pattern UV cure resists on non-transparent substrates. Nanocoining uses mechanical indenting to seamlessly stitch together millions of indents at 45,000 indents per second, enabling patterning rates up to 2 square inches per minute. The indenting tool is made from a single crystal diamond die that we pattern using focused ion beam milling or other methods. The molds are customized for different roll-to-roll imprinting tools, material sets, and processes.