Nanoimprint Lithography
Today's SUSS Solutions for Tomorrow's Imprinting Needs
Low cost production solutions of nanostructures are in development that may be the driving forces of Semiconductor MOEMS and optoelectronics technology tomorrow. In particular, Nanoimprint lithography (NIL) and its variations have been developed as a cost-effective alternative to high-resolution e-beam lithography to print sub-50 nm geometries.
Imprinting is based on the principle of mechanically modifying a thin polymer film with a stamp (also called mold or template) containing the nanopattern, in a thermo-mechanical or UV curing process. The patterned polymer can even act as a final device, e.g. lense for imaging sensors, micro fluidic chip, biomedical array etc. It can also be used as a high resolution mask for subsequent steps of the process.
Imprinting is a quite simple technology. There are basically three process steps:
- Align the stamp with the substrate which has been pre-coated with the embossing polymer
- Press the stamp into the embossing material to transfer the pattern written on the stamp surface
- Separate the stamp from the embossing material
We can describe three imprinting or embossing techniques: Hot Embossing Lithography (HEL) using thermal plastic material, UV-NIL using a liquid resist which is then cured with UV light after molding and Soft Lithography which transfers ink previously applied to a soft stamp onto a substrate using a stamping method
