Nanoimprint Lithography

Low cost and high throughput and high resolution method for producing sub-10 nm structures Creates a resist relief pattern by deforming the resist physical shape with embossing, rather than by modifying the resist chemical structure with radiation or self assembly Uses compression molding of thin thermoplastic polymer film on a substrate Can be used as the nanolithography process in integrated circuit fabrication Since this process doesnt use any energetic beams, the resolution is not limited by the effects of wave diffraction, scattering and interference in a resist

Process
NIL has 2 steps: imprint and pattern transfer First a mold is pressed into a thin thermoplastic polymer film on a substrate that is heated above its glass transition temperature Above that temp the polymer behaves as a viscous liquid and can flow under a pressure, thereby confirming to the mold Resist viscosity decreases with increasing temp Mold can be made of metals, dielectrics, or semiconductors

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In the first step, a mold is pressed into the resist cast on a substrate and held there until the temp drops below the PMMA glass transition temp and that is followed by removal of mold This imprint step duplicates the nanostructures on the mold in the resist film Imprint step creates the thickness contrast pattern in the resist. Pressure applied depends upon the resist used At low pressure, the pattern cannt be transferred into the PMMA completely and at high pressure the nanoscale features on the mold tends to break off In second step, an anisotropic etching process, such as RIE , is used to remove the residual resist in the compressed area to transfer the thickness contrast pattern in the entire resist Nanostructures are formed later by either direct pattern transfer to the substrate by etching or liftoff

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Feature size imprinted is limited by the mold size Polymer generally used is PMMA film spun on a Si wafer PMMA doesnt adhere well to SiO2 mold surface due to its hydrophilic surface Good mold release properties are essential for fabricating nano-scale features Shrinkage of PMMA is less than 0.5% for large changes of temp and pressure PMMA has smaller thermal expansion coefficient Glass-transition temperature of PMMA is 105 oC