Diamond turning of high-precision roll-to-roll imprinting molds for fabricating subwavelength gratings

Abstract

Diamond turning of high-precision molds is a vital process for the roll-to-roll-based ultraviolet resin imprinting process in fabricating subwavelength gratings. The effects of the grating shape and grating period on diffraction efficiencies and diffraction angles were simulated. Experiments were then conducted to examine the effects of shape design, grating period, and cutting speed on machinability of the mold. According to the optical measurement results, the performance of the subwavelength gratings matched the design well at various incident angles. The results confirm that diamond turning of high-precision molds is a feasible approach for ensuring the continual mass production of subwavelength gratings.