Theoretical and experimental study of metallic glass die-imprinting for manufacturing large-size micro/nano structures

Abstract

Preparing large-size metallic glassy micro/nano devices/structures with high uniformity and precision is a very important and challenge topic in up-down nanotechnologies and their applications. It shows that the newly developed die-imprinting technique of metallic glasses (MGs) exhibits better uniformity and precision than the commonly used free-imprinting, despite of that the related mechanism and processing kinetics have not been fully understood. However, understanding the factors affecting the processing uniformity and processing kinetics is very important for controlling the processing precision of the MG nano/micro structures. In the present study, the processing uniformity as well as the processing kinetics of MGs in die-imprinting was systematically investigated. A universal processing kinetics formula of MGs’ die-imprinting has been proposed by quantitative evaluating the effect of the oxide layer for the first time. The processing kinetics formula has been proved applicable both in micro and nano scale by experimental results. It has also been found that the die-imprinting possesses excellent and stable processing uniformity in a large area, which is an order of magnitude better than that of the free-imprinting. Especially, the prepared MG with micro/nano structures could be employed as imprinting mold to fabricate micro/nano structures on plastics or other materials in larger scale. The present work provides both experimental and theoretical fundaments for the controllable die-imprinting of MGs to fabricate micro/nano structure or devices, and can greatly promote the further applications of MGs.