High temperature micro forming of inorganic glass - an effective replication method

With the technology of the high-temperature micro-forming it is possible to mold functional structures of the micro system technology directly into inorganic glasses. After improving the equipment technology of hot embossing with respect to achievable forming temperatures, isothermal tempering and accurate controlling of the load transmission, the possibility to micro-structure glass wafers of Pyrex®774 could be proven within a suitable process window. Concerning the form filling of the structures a further optimization of the process parameters is necessary. The sharpness of edges of the molded structures permits the conclusion that highest accuracies can be achieved comparable to optical quality. For this purpose, however, also the molding tools must achieve optical quality regarding surface roughness. Also an improvement of the coating is necessary, in order to minimize the wear of the tools. The experiments nevertheless show the high potential of the technology.