Lamination transfer films for forming reentrant structures

• US 10,220,600 B2
• Filed: 01/09/2015
• Issued: 03/05/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 01/20/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: 3M Innovative Properties Company (3M Company)
• Original Assignee: 3M Innovative Properties Company (3M Company)
• Inventors: Wolk, Martin B., Benson, Jr., Olester, Collier, Terry O., Free, Michael Benton, Meuler, Adam J., Meyer, Justin P., Schwartz, Evan L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Sengupta, Sonya M
• Application Number:
  US15/111,355
• Publication Number:
  US 20160325536A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,516 Days
• Field of Search: 156232, 156242, 156278, 156500
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 37/00 Component parts, details, accessories or auxiliary operations, not covered by group B29C33/00 or B29C35/00
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 37/0025 Applying surface layers, e.g. coatings, decorative layers, printed layers, to articles during shaping, e.g. in-mould printing moulding on preformed layers as inserts B29C70/68; applying fluent material to surfaces in general B05
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 39/14 for making articles of indefinite length by depositing material on a substrate and stripping off the shaped article B29C41/24
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 41/24 for making articles of indefinite length
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 43/00 Compression moulding, i.e. applying external pressure to flow the moulding material; Apparatus therefor by liberation of internal stresses B29C61/006
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 45/00 Injection moulding, i.e. forcing the required volume of moulding material through a nozzle into a closed mould; Apparatus therefor injection blow-moulding B29C49/06
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 48/00 Extrusion moulding, i.e. expressing the moulding material through a die or nozzle which imparts the desired form; Apparatus therefor extrusion blow-moulding B29C49/04
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 51/00 Shaping by thermoforming , i.e. shaping sheets or sheet like preforms after heating, e.g. shaping sheets in matched moulds or by deep-drawing; Apparatus therefor blow moulding of tubular preforms B29C49/00, deforming of tubular or hollow preforms B29C67/0014
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 2037/1253 curable adhesive
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 2037/243 Coating
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 2264/102 Oxide or hydroxide
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 2307/40 having particular optical properties light or UV resistant B32B2307/71
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 2307/748 Releasability
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 2310/0831 using UV radiation
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 2419/00 Buildings or parts thereof walls, panels B32B2607/00
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 2457/12 Photovoltaic modules
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 2457/20 Displays, e.g. liquid crystal displays, plasma displays
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 2551/00 Optical elements
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 27/08 of synthetic resin
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 27/20 using fillers, pigments, thixotroping agents
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 3/30 : characterised by a layer formed with recesses or projections, e.g. hollows, grooves, protuberances, ribs apertured layer B32B3/266; layer with cavities or internal voids B32B3/26
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 37/025 : Transfer laminating
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 37/24 : with at least one layer not being coherent before laminating, e.g. made up from granular material sprinkled onto a substrate B32B37/15 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 38/06 : Embossing
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 38/10 : Removing layers, or parts of layers, mechanically or chemically
• CPC Class Codes: B44C 1/16 : for applying transfer pictures or the like
• CPC Class Codes: B44C 1/165 : for decalcomanias; sheet material therefor apparatus or machines for applying decalcomanias B65C
• CPC Class Codes: C03C 17/00 : Surface treatment of glass, not in the form of fibres or filaments, by coating optical coatings of optical elements G02B1/10
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 1/11 : Anti-reflection coatings
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 1/118 : having sub-optical wavelength surface structures designed to provide an enhanced transmittance, e.g. moth-eye structures
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 2102/331 : Nanoparticles used in non-emissive layers, e.g. in packaging layer
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 50/85 : Arrangements for extracting light from the devices
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 50/858 : comprising refractive means, e.g. lenses
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 71/80 : using temporary substrates

Abstract

Transfer films comprising a carrier film, a sacrificial template layer deposed on the carrier film and comprising reentrant forming template features, and a thermally stable backfill layer having a first surface conforming to the reentrant forming template features and forming reentrant features and an opposing planar second surface; and methods of making transfer films are disclosed.

Claims

1. A transfer film comprising:

a carrier film;

a sacrificial template layer disposed on the carrier film and comprising reentrant forming template features;

a thermally stable backfill layer having a first surface conforming to the reentrant forming template features and forming reentrant features and an opposing planar second surface.

2. The transfer film according to claim 1, wherein the thermally stable backfill material comprises an organosilicon polymer.

3. The transfer film according to claim 1, wherein the reentrant forming template features are capable of being baked out while leaving a thermally stable reentrant feature layer.

4. The transfer film according to claim 1, wherein the carrier film comprises a release layer separating the carrier film from the sacrificial template layer.

5. The transfer film according to claim 1, wherein the reentrant feature comprises an elliptic paraboloid.

6. The transfer film according to claim 1, wherein the reentrant feature comprises a segment of a sphere.

7. The transfer film according to claim 1, wherein the reentrant feature forms a lens feature.

8. The transfer film according to claim 1, wherein the reentrant feature comprises micro or nanostructure.

9. The transfer film according to claim 1, wherein the thermally stable backfill layer is inelastic.

10. The transfer film according to claim 1, wherein the sacrificial template layer is inelastic.

17. A method of using the transfer film of claim 1, the method comprising:

laminating the planar second surface of the transfer film to a receptor substrate;

baking out the sacrificial template layer to form a thermally stable backfill layer having reentrant features.

18. The method according to claim 17, further comprising removing the carrier film from the sacrificial template layer before the baking out step.

19. The method according to claim 17, wherein the reentrant features are disposed on microstructure features of the thermally stable backfill layer.

20. The method according to claim 17, wherein the reentrant feature comprises an elliptic paraboloid.

21. The method according to claim 17, wherein the reentrant feature comprises a segment of a sphere.

22. The method according to claim 17, wherein the reentrant feature forms a lens feature.

11. A method of forming a transfer film, comprising:

disposing a sacrificial template layer on a carrier film;

forming reentrant forming template features in the sacrificial template layer; and

coating a thermally stable backfill material on the sacrificial template layer to form a thermally stable backfill layer having a first surface conforming to the reentrant forming template features and an opposing planar second surface, forming a lamination transfer film.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the forming step comprises embossing the sacrificial template layer to form first features and then mechanically or thermally deforming the first features to form reentrant forming template features.

13. The method according to claim 11, wherein the forming step comprises disposing a masking layer on the sacrificial template layer and etching the sacrificial template layer through openings in the masking layer to form the reentrant forming template features in the sacrificial template layer.

14. The method according to claim 11, wherein the template features comprise nano or microstructure and the thermally stable backfill layer conforms to the nano or microstructure and the reentrant forming template features.

15. The method according to claim 11, wherein the forming step comprises disposing the sacrificial template layer on removable beads to form the reentrant forming template features in the sacrificial template layer.

16. The method according to claim 11, wherein the sacrificial template layer comprises beads formed of sacrificial material and then coating the thermally stable backfill material on the beads.