• Proceedings of the Polymer Society of Korea Conference
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• 2006.10a
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• pp.293-293
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• 2006

Self-assembled nanostructures of block copolymer thin films have gathered significant attention due to their potential applications as templates for nanofabrication. However the lack of a robust strategy to control the structure formation in thin film geometries has been considered a major obstacle for the practical application. In this presentation 'epitaxial self-assembly' will be introduced as a successful strategy to control the self-assembled nanostructure of block copolymer. Chemically patterned surfaces prepared by advanced lithographic techniques successfully registered nanodomains in block copolymer thin film without any single defect over an arbitrarily large area.

• Polymer Science and Technology
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.215-220
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• 2015

• Polymer Science and Technology
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.629-635
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• 2012

• Proceedings of the Polymer Society of Korea Conference
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• 2006.10a
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• pp.309-309
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• 2006

Latest developments on hybrid nanostructured materials fabricated by applying self-assembly strategies on organic/inorganic nanotemplates are discussed. Within this frame, numerous functional nanomaterials including arrays of composite metal/semiconductor nanoparticles, planar waveguides and functional multilayer thin films are generated using self-assembled polymers as templates or building blocks. In particular, surface plasmon resonance based optical sensing is employed to investigate nanofabrication processes occurring in nanoscale dimention. We also suggest unprecedented pathways to hybrid supramolecular multilayer nanoarchitectures in 1D or 2D geometry via layer-by-layer self-assembly.

• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.29-34
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• 2010

Nanoimprint lithography (NIL) is an emerging technology enabling cost effective and high throughput nanofabrication. To successfully imprint a nanometer scale patterns, the understanding of the mechanism in nanoimprint forming is essential. In this paper, a numerical analysis of polymer flow in thermal NIL was performed. First, a finite element model of the periodic mold structure with prescribed boundary conditions was established. Then, the volume of fluid (VOF) and grid deformation method were utilized to calculate the free surfaces of the polymer flow based on an Eulerian grid system. From the simulation, the velocity fields and the imprinting pressure for constant imprinting velocity in thermal NIL were obtained. The velocity field is significant because it can directly describe the mode of the polymer deformation, which is the key role to determine the mechanism of nanoimprint forming. Effects of different mold shapes and various thicknesses of polymer resist were also investigated.

• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.68-74
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• 2017

Nanoimprint lithography (NIL) is a next generation technology for fabrication of micrometer and nanometer scale patterns. There have been considerable attentions on NIL due to its potential abilities that enable cost-effective and high-throughput nanofabrication to the display device and semiconductor industry. Up to now there have been a lot of researches on thermal NIL, but most of them have been focused on polymer deformation in the molding process and there are very few studies on the cooling and demolding process. In this paper a cooling process of the polymer resist in thermal NIL is analyzed with finite element method. The modeling of cooling process for mold, polymer resist and substrate is developed. And the cooling process is numerically investigated with the effects of imprinting temperature and residual layer thickness of polymer resist on stress distribution of the polymer resist. The results show that the lower imprinting temperature, the higher the maximum von Mises stress and that the thicker the residual layer, the greater maximum von Mises stress.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.02a
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• pp.22-23
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• 2011

As device dimensions shrink, it is increasingly important to develop fabrication methods that can create sub-15 nm features of regular or arbitrary geometry in a rapid, parallel, and efficient process. This talk will discuss approaches based on self-assembling hybrid polymers containing Si. The thin films of those materials systems can generate well-ordered periodic arrays of dots or lines. For achieving, long-range ordering, it is helpful to use lithographically-defined templates, which are in general much larger than the length-scale of self-assembled nanostructures. For example, the self-assembly of polymer nanostructures can easily be templated using an array of nanoscale topographical elements that act as guiding templates or surrogates for one of two microdomains. The solvent-vapor-induced tunability of pattern dimension and morphology will be discussed as well. Those material systems can excellently serve for high-precision self-assembly that can provide good resolution, reliability, and controllability and be considered as an option for a future nanomanufacturing technology.

• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.93-98
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• 2013

Nanoimprint lithography (NIL) is a next generation technology for fabrication of micrometer and nanometer scale patterns. There have been considerable attentions on NIL due to its potential abilities that enable cost-effective and high-throughput nanofabrication to the display device and semiconductor industry. To successfully imprint a nanosized pattern with the thermal NIL, the process conditions such as temperature and pressure should be appropriately selected. This starts with a clear understanding of polymer material behavior during the thermal NIL process. In this paper, a filling process of the polymer resist into nanometer scale cavities during the thermal NIL at the temperature range, where the polymer resist shows the viscoelastic behaviors with consideration of stress relaxation effect of the polymer. In the simulation, the filling process and the residual layer formation are numerically investigated. And the effects of pressure and temperature on NIL process, specially the residual layer formation are discussed.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.96-96
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• 2016

Nanotechnology mostly employs nano-materials and nano-structures with distinctive properties based on their size, structure, and composition. It is quite difficult to produce nano-materials and nano-structures with identical sizes, structures, and compositions in large quantities, because of spatiotemporal fluctuation of production processes. In other words, fluctuation is the bottleneck in nanotechnology. We propose three strategies to suppress such fluctuations: employing 1) difference between linear and nonlinear phenomena, 2) difference in time constants, and 3) nucleation as a bottleneck phenomenon. We are also developing nano- and micro-scale guided assembly using plasmas as a plasma nanofabrication.1-5) We manipulate nano- and micro-objects using electrostatic, electromagnetic, ion drag, neutral drag, and optical forces. The accuracy of positioning the objects depends on fluctuation of position and energy of an object in plasmas. Here we evaluate such fluctuations and discuss the mechanism behind them. We conducted in-situ evaluation of local plasma potential fluctuation using tracking analysis of fine particles (=objects) in plasmas. Experiments were carried out with a radio frequency low-pressure plasma reactor, where we set two quartz windows at the top and bottom of the reactor. Ar plasmas were generated at 200 Pa by applying 13.56MHz, 450V peak-to-peak voltage. The injected fine particles were monodisperse methyl methacrylate-polymer spheres of $10{\mu}m$ in diameter. Fine particles were injected into the reactor and were suspended around the plasma/sheath boundary near the powered electrode. We observed binary collision of fine particles with a high-speed camera. The frame rate was 1000-10000 fps. Time evolution of their distance from the center of mass was measured by tracking analysis of the two particles. Kinetic energy during the collision was obtained from the result. Potential energy formed between the two particles was deduced by assuming the potential energy plus the kinetic energy is constant. The interaction potential is fluctuated during the collision. Maximum amplitude of the fluctuation is 25eV, and the average is 8eV. The fluctuation can be caused by neutral molecule collisions, ion collisions, and fluctuation of electrostatic force. Among theses possible causes, fluctuation of electrostatic force may be main one, because the fine particle has a large negative charge of -17000e and the corresponding electrostatic force is large compared to other forces.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.374-378
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• 2004

The biodegradable and biocompatible poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV), a copolymer of microbial polyester, was fabricated as nanofibrous mats by electrospinning. Image analysis of the electrospun nanofibers fabricated from a 2 wt% 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol solution revealed a unimodal distribution pattern of fiber diameters with an observed average diameter of ca. 185 nm. The fiber diameter of electrospun fabrics could be controlled by adjusting the electro spinning parameters, including the solvent composition, concentration, applied voltage, and tip-to-collector distance. Chondrocytes derived from rabbit ear were cultured on a PHBV cast film and an electrospun PHBV nano-fibrous mat. After incubation for 2 h, the percentages of attached chondrocytes on the surfaces of the flat PHBV film and the PHBV nanofibrous mat were 19.0 and 30.1 %, respectively. On the surface of the electrospun PHBV fabric, more chondrocytes were attached and appeared to have a much greater spreaded morphology than did that of the flat PHBV cast film in the early culture stage. The electro spun PHBV nanofabric provides an attractive structure for the attachment and growth of chondrocytes as cell culture surfaces for tissue engineering.