Graphene-coated Si mold for precision glass optics molding

Despite many attractive properties and well-developed micro/nano manufacturing technologies based on silicon (Si) wafers, severe adhesions between Si and glass at high temperature have limited its application as a mold material in precision glass molding. In this Letter, a coating using carbide-bonded graphene is introduced to build nonstick Si molds for glass molding. The coating has extraordinary mechanical properties and can effectively prevent Si-glass adhesion under high temperature. We demonstrated fabrications of a Fresnel lens and glass parts with micrometer pillars using graphene-coated Si molds. This newly developed process enables the use of Si as a mold material to fabricate sophisticated structures with high-precision dimensions that was not previously available. This technology will greatly improve precision glass molding process and allow high-precision low-cost glass optics to be manufactured in large quantity.