Low-Pressure Nanoimprint Lithography

Abstract

A low pressure (2∼3 bar) nanoimprint lithography technique is developed that utilizes a thin fluoropolymer film (∼100 μm) mold. The flexible film mold allows imprinting of submicron pattern features at such a low pressure primarily due to “sequential” imprinting made possible by the mold flexibility and the conformal contact made between the film mold and the substrate. The surface energy of the fluoropolymer mold material is low enough that no mold surface treatment is needed for clean demolding. Easy replication of the film mold by a simple solvent casting is another advantage of the proposed method. Also the nanoscale (<100 nm) replication capability is demonstrated and discussed with a solvent-cast thin film fluoropolymer mold.