GOALI: Nanocoining

North Carolina State University, Raleigh NC

Investigators

Abstract

This Grant Opportunity for Academic Liaison with Industry (GOALI) project is designed to test the hypothesis that a coining process can be used to rapidly create a large mold containing billions of miniature features in a high-precision machine tool. These molds would then be used to micro-replicate these features onto plastic sheets creating large volumes of low-cost optical elements. Because these features are smaller than the wavelength of light, the functionality and applicability of these optical elements will be improved. For example, small features can create a non-reflective surface mimicking the nanostructures in moth eyes or can efficiently couple light from an organic light emitting diode. This project will combine mechanical engineering and material science faculty and students along with fabrication experts from 3M to create the miniature die features and the dynamic process needed to replicate these features onto a large mold. Material selection, feature shape replication, actuator design, process control will be topics of research. If successful, this project will revolutionize micro-replication processes used for applications such as reflective films and anti-glare laptop screens. It also will have application for improving the light capture efficiency in organic solar cells In addition, the research project provides the opportunity for graduate and undergraduate students at North Carolina State University to learn the details and extend the capability of nanoscale manufacturing. The results of the work will be presented at technical meetings and published in scientific journals. The research experience provided to each of these groups will improve the quality of the science and engineering education