Nanoimprint lithography

Nanoimprint lithography (NIL) is a method of fabricating nanometer scale patterns. It is a simple nanolithography process with low cost, high throughput and high resolution. It creates patterns by mechanical deformation of imprint resist and subsequent processes. The imprint resist is typically a monomer or polymer formulation that is cured by heat or UV light during the imprinting. Adhesion between the resist and the template is controlled to allow proper release. History The term "nanoimprint lithography" was coined in the scientific literature in 1996, when Prof. Stephen Chou and his students published a report in Science, although hot embossing (now taken as a synonym of NIL) of thermoplastics had been appearing in the patent literature for a few years already. Soon after the Science paper, many researchers developed different variations and implementations. At this point, nanoimprint lithography has been added to the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (

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Easy release fluoropolymer molds for micro- and nano-pattern replication

David Barbero, Hans Jörg Mathieu

A mold (35) for use in nano- or micro-replication processes on thermoplastic polymer substrates (20), comprises a nano- or micro-structured fluoropolymer surface that, when the mold (35) is used in a nano- or micro-replication process, serves for the application of a nano- or micro-structuration on a thermoplastic polymer substrate (20,22). The nano- or micro-structured fluoropolymer surface is itself obtained by nano- or micro-structuration against the fluoropolymer surface (30) using a master mold (10) of silicon, quartz, nickel, steel, copper, or another material of comparable properties having a nano- or micro-structuration corresponding to that to be applied to a substrate (22). The fluoromold (35) can be used for nano- or micro-imprint lithography, or a liquid polymer can be coated or extruded against the nano-or micro-structured fluoropolymer surface.

2006

Nanostructured high refractive index titanium oxide films

Vaida Auzelyte, Jürgen Brugger, Agnese Virginia Savegnago

Titanium oxide due to its optical properties, such as high refractive index, transparency to visible light and photocatalytic properties is being used in a large number of devices such as micro-optical elements and solar cells. The fabrication of TiO2 micro and nano-patterns however requires costly clean-room technology involving a number of fabrication steps. Alternatively titania can be prepared using low cost chemical solution deposition technique using sol-gel process. Sol-gel methods, on the other hand, suffer from high densification temperatures and therefore poorer performance. We present an advanced sol-gel process based on high titanium oxide content synthesis and its one-step patterning using nanoimprint lithography. TiO2 sol-gel films were prepared using titania precursors, titanium isopropoxide (90%) and silica precursor (10%) modified by organic moieties. TiO2 nano-particles were either added (Ø20nm) to the solution or formed in-situ (Ø5nm). The films up to 1 um were spin coated and imprinted at temperatures ranging from 80 to 130C. After this process, the films were cured with UV irradiation and shrank up to 50% leaving patterned areas free of cracks. The patterns from 50 nm to 2 um size and up to 300 nm deep were obtained. Refractive index of the films after UV irradiation increased from 1.6 to 2.1. Directly patternable and UV curable, crack-free and high purity TiO2 films up to 0.5 um thick are suitable for the fabrication of high efficiency micro-components.

2011

Highly inorganic titania based sol–gel as directly patternable resist for micro- and nano- structured surfaces

Vaida Auzelyte, Jürgen Brugger, Agnese Virginia Savegnago

Highly inorganic sol–gel films and patterned surfaces with up to 90% of titania were obtained by hydrolysis and condensation of Titanium(IV) isopropoxide. As a consequence of titania photocatalytic effect, the further treatment of the nanoimprint patterned films by different UV irradiation doses produces highly inorganic micro- and nano-patterns with tunable refractive indexes over a wide range, reaching values over 2.4 at 300 nm. FTIR analysis confirms the degradation of the organic component of the patterns after UV exposure, and TEM analysis shows the presence of crystalline clusters after both thermal treatment and UV exposure. The morphological characterization of the obtained nano-patterned titania structures has been performed by SEM and AFM analysis.

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