Review on Fabrication Technologies for Optical Mold Inserts

Polymer optics have gained increasing importance in recent years. With advancing requirements for the optical components, the fabrication process remains a challenge. In particular, the fabrication of the mold inserts for the replication process is crucial for obtaining high-quality optical components. This review focuses on fabrication technologies for optical mold inserts. Thereby, two main types of technologies can be distinguished: fabrication methods to create mold inserts with optical surface quality and methods to create optical microstructures. Since optical mold inserts usually require outstanding form accuracies and surface qualities, a focus is placed on these factors. This review aims to give an overview of available methods as well as support the selection process when a fabrication technology is needed for a defined application. Furthermore, references are given to detailed descriptions of each technology if a deeper understanding of the processes is required.

Multi-Layer Coating for Optical Mold of Strengthening by Electroplating Ni-W and Electroless Plating Ni-Mo-P by Nonisothermal Method

The development of optical mold coatings has become a key technology in precision optical components in recent years. Researchers are still seeking ideal electroforming materials capable of resisting higher temperature and improve the lifespan of optical mold. Examples of these materials include Ni-W, and Ni-Mo-P alloy plating, among others. However, the literature rarely mentions these alloys as protective coatings. This may be because coating stability, flatness, and strength cannot achieve the desired protective effects. This study develops a combination of two wet electrochemical processes to form a multi-layer coating on optical molds. This coating consists of Ni-W, and Ni-Mo-P alloys. The proposed treatment process attempts to enhance the mechanical strength of the mold and extend its lifespan. We first used electro-deposition to form a thick-film Ni-W coating, and then applied the electroless plating by nonisothermal deposition method (NITD) to create a Ni-Mo-P thin-film and form a multi-layer coating. We also measured the composition, hardness, and elastic modulus of the protective coating as a reference basis for the development of optical molds. The results of this study reveal the appropriate process parameters to provide the multilayer films with a high strength and flat surface. This article can serve as a reference for the development of optical mold coatings.

Optical Mold Cleaning Using Carbon Dioxide

An optical mold cleaning technique comprised of supercritical CO2 fluids and a CO2 snow particle cleaning process is proposed in this paper. Our results indicate that using supercritical CO2 fluids with cosolvents significantly improves cleaning effectiveness. There is a high degree of cleaning efficiency even when supercritical CO2 fluids are used alone, without any cosolvents. We have also determined that two key factors in controlling the effectiveness of the CO2 snow cleaning process are the density and pressure of the CO2 propellant. Since CO2 cleaning generates much less pollution than current methods, it will be an important cleaning technique in the future.

A Review on Machining of Micro-Structured Optical Molds

The manufacturing of optics is an important field of technology and will serve keymarkets today and in the future. Nevertheless, the application of complex optical elements is much restricted today despite of their outstanding functional advantages. Furthermore, the replication of structured optical components requires high precision molds. Diamond machining processes like diamond milling and cutting as well as abrasive polishing are appropriate micro-structuring techniques for optical molds. The combination of these key machining technologies with replication techniques within closed process chains will open the possibility to produce high precision complex optical elements as mass-product articles for many optical applications. Important machining techniques for optical mold manufacture are presented and discussed.