On the use of hot embossing for the reproduction of the surface topography of mould microreliefs

International audienceThis article describes the quality of reproduction of microcavities structured into mould substrates that were filled by the imposed flow of amorphous polymeric materials. The rheology of the selected materials (cyclic olefin copolymer, COC) depends on the experimental parameters (temperature, pressure) used for the hot embossing process. To support the experimental data, the polymers are qualified by their melt flow index, flow index and consistency. The efficiency of the filling procedure into the microcavities of smaller and smaller size is described using the potentialities of a customized equipment labelled as a Scanning Mechanical Microscopy (SMM)