By Smart Material Solutions, Inc.
Nanocoining is a patented process to seamlessly nanopattern the outside of a cylindrical drum or sleeve more than 500 times faster than electron-beam lithography. Process Overview During nanocoining, an ultrasonic actuator indents a nanopatterned diamond die into the outside of a rotating metal drum about 45,000 times per second to rapidly cover the surface of the drum mold with a seamless spiral of indented features. Competitive Advantage Nanocoining's competitive advantage lies in its unique ability to nanopattern: - More than 500 times faster than electron-beam lithography. Nanocoining's exceptionally high coverage rate, shown on the right, enables large-area nanopatterning that is infeasible with traditional lithography techniques due to their low speed and high cost. - Seamlessly around cylindrical R2R NIL molds. Many competing processes pattern flat shims that must be wrapped around a cylinder for R2R processing, resulting in a seam that is undesirable for many applications. - Without chemical processes like resist development and etching. - With control of the 3D feature shape. Traditional lithography produces binary features instead of 3D feature shapes.
