Analysis on Deterioration Mechanism of Release Layer in Nanoimprint Process

Abstract

brderCOrd C 7-JOr722 CCOm KeywordsnanOimrintIreleaselaye11deteriorationmechatLism 1Introduction Photo-nanOimprintlithography(NIL)a direct-COntaCtmethodfortransferrlngaPatterntOa Substratehas attracted wide attention as a nanofabricationmethodllItisbecausethatNIL hasanabilitytopatternstruCtureSfrommicronto nanOmeter SCale atlow cost compared to other lithographytooIswithnanoscaleresolutionSuCh ase-beamtoolandextremeUVlithographytool One ofthekeychallengesforNILis to prevent resistadhesiontoamoldsurfacel2Themain approachtoovercomlngthisproblemistoapplya releaseagenttothemoldsurfaceinordertoreduce SurfaceenergyHoweverithasbeenreportedthat releasecharacteristicsofthemolddeterioratewith repeatedimprintoperationsAlthoughdeterioration OfreleaselayerissusPeCtedtobethemaincause 1ittleisknownaboutitsmechanism In this studyquantitative methods toanalyze releaselayer deterioration were established by employing X-ray reflectivity(XRR)and X-ray Photoelectronspectroscopy(XPS)measurements 2Experimental One ofthe typicalrelease agentsis silane COuPling agent with pernuoropolyether(PFPE) StruCtureInthis studyWeuSedPFPE derivative Whichhave-(OCF2CF2CF2)n-(Derrmum)structure Withasilanecouplingendgroup(registeredname OptooIDSXDaikinIndustries) Aflat Si100substrate was used as a mold AquartzglassplatewasusedasasubstrateMold andsubstrateweresoakedinpiranhasolutionfor lOminandthoroughlyrlnSedwithultrapurewater to formlayers of silicon dioxide with -OH terminations on their surfaces before coupling