Polymer Materials and Microstructures

The cluster of activities related to Materials and Microstructures has the goal to develop integrated components and the associated technology making use of the freedom of shape and low-cost processing technology of polymers. Function integration can be achieved in a single polymer, for instance optical and mechanical requirements can be met with amorphous thermoplastics, but very often the integration of inorganic materials is a functional requirement. In that case replication of reactive resins on inorganic substrates gives the optimum mix of shape freedom and low-cost technology with high stability and increased functionality (e.g. integrated electronics). With reactive resins a broad range of properties can be accessed, e.g. high refractive index or anisotropic refractive index in the case of optical properties, but also electro-active polymers can be integrated. For larger structures and the combination of micro-and macro worlds injection molding of thermoplastics is a powerful technology. Also there integration of inorganic substrates is possible when the challenges of thermal expansion mismatch and adhesion have been addressed successfully. In all cases a profound knowledge of the materials and the processing-property relationships is essential for a successful implementation.