Nanoimprint lithography: 2D or not 2D? A review
Schift, Helmut
In: Applied Physics A, 2015, vol. 121, no. 2, p. 415-435
Aggiungi alla tua lista- Summary
- Nanoimprint lithography (NIL) is more than a planar high-end technology for the patterning of wafer-like substrates. It is essentially a 3D process, because it replicates various stamp topographies by 3D displacement of material and takes advantage of the bending of stamps while the mold cavities are filled. But at the same time, it keeps all assets of a 2D technique being able to pattern thin masking layers like in photon- and electron-based traditional lithography. This review reports about 20years of development of replication techniques at Paul Scherrer Institut, with a focus on 3D aspects of molding, which enable NIL to stay 2D, but at the same time enable 3D applications which are "more than Moore.” As an example, the manufacturing of a demonstrator for backlighting applications based on thermally activated selective topography equilibration will be presented. This technique allows generating almost arbitrary sloped, convex and concave profiles in the same polymer film with dimensions in micro- and nanometer scale.