• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Surface Engineering Conference
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.127-127
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• 2008

The replica of highly ordered nano-sphere array patterns were fabricated using hot embossing method. The polymer replica was coated with silcon dioxide layer and self-assembled monolayer. Using UV nanoimprint lithography with the template, highly ordered nano-sphere array patterns were clearly fabricated on curved substrate.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Technology of Plasticity Conference
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• 2003.04a
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• pp.7-13
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• 2003

Microlens arrays were fabricated using a novel fabrication technology based on the exposure of a PMMA (Polymethylmethacrylate) sheet to deep X-rays and subsequent thermal treatment. X-ray irradiation causes the decrease of molecular weight of PMMA, which in turn decreases the glass transition temperature and consequently causes a net volume increase during the thermal cycle resulting in a swollen microlens. A new physical modeling and analyses for micro lens formation were presented according to experimental procedure. A simple analysis based on the new model is found to be capable of predicting the shapes of micro lens which depend on the thermal treatment. For the replication of micro lens arrays having various diameters with different foci on the same surface, the hot embossing and the microinjection molding processes has been successfully utilized with a mold insert that is fabricated by Ni-electroplating based on a PMMA microstructure of micro lenses. Fabricated microlenses showed good surface roughness with the order of 1nm.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.99-105
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• 2006

This paper reports an improved bonding method using the IPA (isopropyl alcohol) assisted low-temperature bonding process for the PMMA (polymethylmethacrylate) micro CE (capillary electrophoresis) chip. There is a problem about channel deformations during the conventional processes such as thermal bonding and solvent bonding methods. The bonding test using an IPA showed good results without channel deformations over 4 inch PMMA wafer at $60^{\circ}C$ and 1.3 bar for 10 minutes. The mechanism of IPA bonding was attributed to the formation of a small amount of vaporized acetone made from the oxidized IPA which allows to solvent bonding. To verify the usefulness of the IPA assisted low-temperature bonding process, the PMMA micro CE chip which had a $45{\mu}m$ channel height was fabricated by hot embossing process. A functional test of the fabricated CE chip was demonstrated by the separation of fluorescein and dichlorofluorescein. Any leakage of liquids was not observed during the test and the electropherogram result was successfully achieved. An IPA assisted low-temperature bonding process could be an easy and effective way to fabricate the PMMA micro CE chip and would help to increase the yield.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Technology of Plasticity Conference
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• 2003.05a
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• pp.465-469
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• 2003

Microlens arrays were fabricated using a novel fabrication technology based on the exposure of a PMMA (Polymethylmethacrylate) sheet to deep X-rays and subsequent thermal treatment. X-ray irradiation causes the decrease of molecular weight of PMMA, which in turn decreases the glass transition temperature and consequently causes a net volume increase during the thermal cycle resulting in a swollen microlens. A new physical modeling and analyses for microlens formation were presented according to experimental procedure. A simple analysis based on the new model is found to be capable of predicting the shapes of microlens which depend on the thermal treatment. For the replication of microlens arrays having various diameters with different foci on the same surface, the hot embossing and the microinjection molding processes has been successfully utilized with a mold insert that is fabricated by Ni-electroplating based on a PMMA microstructure of microlenses. Fabricated microlenses showed good surface roughness with the order of 1 nm.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Technology of Plasticity Conference
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• 2003.04a
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• pp.73-77
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• 2003

The backlight unit(BLU) is used as a light source of TFT liquid-crystalline-display (TFT-LCD) module. In this backlight unit, one of important components is the light guide, which is usually made of transparent polymers. Currently the screen-printing method is mainly used for the light guide as a manufacturing process. However, it has limitation to the flexibility of three-dimensional optical design. In the present paper a new alternative manufacturing method for the light guide with low-cost is proposed. This manufacturing method is named as direct surface forming (DSF), which is very similar to the well-known hot embossing except for partial contact between mold and substrate. The results of this new manufacturing method are presented in terms of processing condition, dimensional accuracy, productivity, etc.

• Korea-Australia Rheology Journal
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.167-171
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• 2003

The backlight unit (BLU) is used as a light source of TFT liquid-crystalline-display (TFT-LCD) module. In this backlight unit, one of important components is the light guide, which is usually made of transparent polymers. Currently, the screen-printing method is mainly used for the light guide as a manufacturing process. However, it has limitation to the flexibility of three-dimensional optical design. In the present paper a new alternative manufacturing method for the light guide with low-cost is proposed. This manufacturing method is named as direct surface forming (DSF), which is very similar to the well-known hot embossing except for partial contact between mold and substrate. The results of this new manufacturing method are presented in terms of processing condition, dimensional accuracy, productivity, etc.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.22 no.12 s.177
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• pp.16-21
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• 2005

Photonic crystals, periodic structure with a high refractive index contrast modulation, have recently become very interesting platform for the manipulation of light. The existence of a photonic bandgap, a frequency range in which the propagation of light is prevented in all directions, makes photonic crystal very useful in application where the spatial localization of light is required, for example waveguide, beam splitter, and cavity. However, the fabrication of 3 dimensional photonic crystals is still difficult process. A concept that has recently attracted a lot of attention is a planar photonic crystal based on a dielectric membrane, suspended in the air and perforated with two dimensional lattice of hole. The fabrication of Si master with pillar structure using hot embossing process is investigated for two dimensional, low-index-contrast photonic crystal waveguide. From our research we show that the multiple stamp copy process proved to be feasible and useful.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.130-138
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• 2006

We have investigated pattern scaling down of silicon stamps through the oxidation technique, During oxidizing the silicon stamps, silicon dioxide that has 300 nm and 500 nm thickness was grown, and critical deformations were not observed in the patterns. There was positive effect to reduce size of patterns because vertical and horizontal patterns have different orientation. We achieved pattern reduction rate of $26\%$. In addition, the formation of polymer patterns had been investigated with varied temperature and pressure conditions to improve the filling characteristics of polymers during nanoimprint lithography when pattern sizes were few micrometers. In these varied conditions, polymers had been affected by free space compensation and elastic stress relaxation for filling the cavities. Based on the results, defect control which is an important issue in the nanoimprint lithography were facilitated.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2003.06a
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• pp.196-198
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• 2003

Classical lithography in semiconductor employs stepper technologies. Limits of this technology are clearly seen at structures below 100nm. Nano-imprinting lithography is a new method for generating patterns in submicron range at reasonable cost. In order to manufacture nano-imprinting lithography(NIL) equipment, several NIL manufacturers have been developing key technologies for realization of nano-imprinting process, recently. In this paper, we've been describe state-of-the-art and technology trends for nano-imprinting lithography equipments.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.79-84
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• 2004

A light-guide is one of several important components of backlight unit in TFT-LCD. The manufacturing technology and optical system design of the light guide is very sensitive to quality and cost of the TFT-LCD module. In the present study a new manufacturing method which is called as direct surface forming(DSF) has been tested under various conditions. DSF is very similar to the well-known hot embossing except for partial contact between mold and substrate. The final V-groove pattern shows different shapes depend on the temperature of mold surface, contact time of mold and depth of V-groove.