Manufacturing of Surface Relief Structures in Moving Substrates Using Photoembossing and Pulsed- Interference Holography

Photoembossing is a cost-effective technique for the production of complex surface relief structures in a photopolymer film, achieved via contact-mask exposure to UVlight. Here, photoembossing is explored using interference holography with a CWlaser and a nanosecond pulsed laser. It is shown that identical surface relief structures are produced if the photopolymer film is kept in a fixed position. In the case of a moving substrate, relief structures are only obtained with the pulsed laser and the heights of the relief structures and their shape are the same as in the static experiments. This illustrates that photoembossing in combination with pulsed laser interference holography is potentially useful in the production of large area structured films using roll-to-roll processes.