Fabrication of glasses with low softening temperatures for mold-processing by ion-exchange

Abstract

Glasses having a low softening temperature are desired for compression molding techniques in order to lengthen the mold life. The final goal of this research is to obtain glasses, which are suitable for the precise molding in order to fabricate micro-to submicro-structures on the glass surfaces, utilizing the ion-exchange technique, which lowers the softening temperature of only the surface regions of the glasses. We examined variations in optical and thermal properties of a soda-lime silicate glass after ion-exchange in AgNO3-NaNO3 molten salts under various conditions. The glass transition and softening temperatures were lowered after the ion-exchange by 80 K and 70 K, respectively. Molding tests were demonstrated for the ion-exchanged glasses using a glassy carbon mold having a one-dimensional periodical structure of 500 nm in frequency and 350 nm in depth within the area of 6 × 6 mm 2 . It was found that the structure was successfully transferred on a part of the surface of the ionexchanged glass at a lower temperature than that for the glass before ion-exchange.

Room Temperature Imprint Using Crack‐Free Monolithic SiO2‐PVA Nanocomposite for Fabricating Microhole Array on Silica Glass

“…To avoid degradation of the imprint mold, considerable effort has been paid to develop low-softening-temperature glasses [9][10][11]. Conversely, silica glass has been applied to many industrial fields resulting from excellent thermal, chemical, mechanical, and optical properties.…”