• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.19-23
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• 2010

Nanoimprint lithography (NIL) is one of the most versatile and promising technology for micro/nano-patterning due to its simplicity, high throughput and low cost. Recently, one of the major trends of NIL is large-area patterning. Especially, the research of the application of NIL to TFT-LCD field has been increasing. Technical difficulties to keep the uniformity of the residual layer, however, become severer as the imprinting area increases. In this paper we performed a numerical study for a large area NIL (the $2^nd$ generation TFT-LCD glass substrate ($370{\times}470$ mm)) by using finite element method. First, a simple model considering the surrounding wall was established in order to simulate effectively and reduce the computing time. Then, the volume of fluid (VOF) and grid deformation method were utilized to calculate the free surfaces of the resist flow based on an Eulerian grid system. From the simulation, the velocity fields and the imprinting pressure during the filling process in the NIL were analyzed, and the effect of the surrounding wall and the uniformity of residual layer were investigated.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Process Engineers
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.104-109
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• 2013

In order to apply nano imprint technology in large area process, roller pressing is promising because of its low cost and high productivity. When pressing mold by roller, liquid resin is locally squeezed between mold and substrate. In this study, the main focus is to understand which process parameter affects residual layer. To do this, a simple analytical model was introduced. Especially, we consider the aspect ratio of patterns as essential cause of variation of the thickness in the equation. As a result, when the aspect ratio of pattern in the mold increases, the thickness of residual layer also increases. In conclusion, we show that the uniformity of residual layer could be accomplished by the control of velocity and pressing force in roller pressing imprint process.

• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.53-59
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• 2011

Recently there have been considerable attentions on nanoimprint lithography (NIL) by the display device and semiconductor industry due to its potential abilities that enable cost-effective and high-throughput nanofabrication. Although one of the current major research trends of NIL is large-area patterning, the technical difficulties to keep the uniformity of the residual layer become severer as the imprinting area increases more and more. In this paper we focused on the deformation of the $2^{nd}$ generation TFT-LCD sized ($370{\times}470mm^2$) large-area soft mold in the UV imprinting process. A mold was fabricated with PDMS(Poly-dimethyl Siloxane) layered glass back plate(t0.5). Besides, the mold includes large surrounding wall type protrusions of 1.9 mm width and the via-hole(7 ${\mu}m$ diameter) patterend area. The large surrounding wall type protrusions cause the proximity effect which severely degrades the uniformity of residual layer in the via-hole patterend area. Therefore the deformation of the mold was calculated by finite element analysis to assess the effect of large surrounding wall type protrusions and the flexiblity of the mold. The deformation of soft mold was verified by the measurements qualitatively.

• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.91-96
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• 2010

In recent years there have been considerable attentions on nanoimprint lithography (NIL) by the display device and semiconductor industry due to its potential abilities that enable cost-effective and high-throughput nanofabrication. Although one of the current major research trends of NIL is large-area patterning, the technical difficulties to keep the uniformity of the residual layer become severer as the imprinting area increases more and more. In this paper we consider the roll-to-plate type imprinting process. In the process a glass mold, which is placed upon the 2nd generation TFT-LCD glass sized substrate(370${\yen}$470 mm), is rolled by a rubber roller to achieve a uniform residual layer. The pressure distribution on the glass mold by rolling of the rubber roller is crucial information to analyze mold deformation, transferred pattern quality, uniformity of residual layer and so forth. In this paper the quantitative pressure distribution induced by rolling of the rubber roller was calculated with finite element analysis under the assumption of Neo-Hookean hyperelastic constitutive relation. Additionally the numerical results were verified by the experiments.

• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.79-84
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• 2013

Nanoimprint lithography (NIL) is the next generation photolithography process in which the photoresist is dispensed onto the substrate in its liquid form and then imprinted and cured into a desired pattern instead of using traditional optical system. 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. Although one of the current major research trends of NIL is large-area patterning, the technical difficulties to keep the uniformity of the residual layer become severer as the imprinting area increases more and more. In this paper, with the rolling type imprinting process, a mold, placed upon the $2^{nd}$ generation TFT-LCD glass sized substrate($370{\times}470mm^2$), is rolled by a rubber roller to achieve a uniform residual layer. The prediction of residual layer thickness of the photoresist by rolling of the rubber roller is crucial to design the rolling type imprinting process, determine the rubber roller operation conditions-mpressing force & feeding speed, operate smoothly the following etching process, and so forth. First, using the elasticity theory of contact problem and the empirical equation of rubber hardness, the contact length between rubber roller and mold is calculated with consideration of the shape and hardness of rubber roller and the pressing force to rubber roller. Next, using the squeeze flow theory to photoresist flow, the residual layer thickness of the photoresist is calculated with information of the viscosity and initial layer thickness of photoresist, the shape of mold pattern, feeding speed of rubber roller, and the contact length between rubber roller and mold previously calculated. Last, the effects of rubber roller operation conditions, impressing force & feeding speed, on the residual layer thickness are analyzed with consideration of the shape and hardness of rubber roller.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2005.06a
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• pp.633-636
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• 2005

Imprint lithography is a promising method for high-resolution and high-throughput lithography using low-cost equipment. As with other nanoimprint methods, ultraviolet-nanoimprint lithography (UV-NIL) resolution appears to be limited only by template resolution, and offers a significant cost of ownership reduction when compared to other next generation lithography (NGL) methods such as EUVL and 157 nm lithography. The purpose of this paper is to suggest optimum values of control parameters of Imprio 100 manufactured by Molecular Imprint, Inc., which is the first commercially available UV-NIL tool, for sound nanoimprint. UV-NIL experiments were performed on Imprio 100 to find dispensing recipe for avoiding air entrapment. Dispensing recipe related to residual layer thickness and uniformity was optimized and 40 nm thick residual layer was achieved.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2009.10a
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• pp.601-602
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• 2009

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.268-273
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• 2009

Ultraviolet nanoimprint lithography (UV-NIL), which is performed at a low pressure and at room temperature, is known as a low cost method for the fabrication of nano-scale patterns. In the patterning process, maintaining the uniformity of the residual layer is critical as the pattern transfer of features to the substrate must include the timed etch of the residual layer prior to the etching of the transfer layer. In pursuit of a thin and uniform residual layer thickness, the initial volume and the position of each droplet both need to be optimized. However, the monomer mixtures of resin had a tendency to evaporate. The evaporation rate depends on not only time, but also the initial volume of the monomer droplet. In order to decide the initial volume of each droplet, the accurate prediction of evaporation behavior is required. In this study, the theoretical model of the evaporation behavior of resin droplets was developed and compared with the available experimental data in the literature. It is confirmed that the evaporation rate of a droplet is not proportional to the area of its free surface, but to the length of its contact line. Finally, the parameter of the developed theoretical model was calculated by curve fitting to decide the initial volume of resin droplets.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2006.05a
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• pp.155-156
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• 2006

UV-NIL is a promising technology for the fabrication of sub-100 nm features. Due to non-uniformity of the residual layer thickness (RLT) and a strong possibility of defects, many UV-NIL processes have been developed and some are commercially available at present, most are based on the 'step-and-repeat' nanoimprint technique, which employs a small-area stamp, much smaller than the substrate. This is mainly because, when a large-area stamp is used, it is difficult to obtain acceptable uniform residual layer thickness and/or to avoid defects such as air entrapment. As an attempt to enable UV_NIL with a large-area stamp for high throughput, we propose a new UV-NIL tool that is able to imprint 4 inch wafer in a low vacuum environment at a single step.

• The Journal of Korea Institute of Information, Electronics, and Communication Technology
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.3-9
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• 2009

Although Active matrix organic light emitting diode (AMOLED) display has a better image quality in terms of viewing angle, contrast ratio, and response time than liquid crystal displays (LCDs), it still has some critical issues such as lifetime, residual images, and brightness non-uniformity due to non-uniformity in electrical characteristics of driving TFTs and IR drops on supplied power line. Among them, we improved irrecoverable residual images of AMOLED displays which is mainly related to the hysteresis characteristics of driving TFTs. We consider four kinds of surface treatment conditions before gate oxide deposition for improving hysteresis characteristics. We can reduce the hysteresis level of p-channel TFT to 0.23 V, interface trap states between the poly-Si layer and gate insulator to $3.11{\times}10^{11}cm^{-2}$, and output current variation of p-channel TFT to 3.65 % through the surface treatment using ultraviolet light and H2 plasma. Therefore, the recoverable residual image problem of AMOLED displays can be improved by surface treatment using ultraviolet light and $H_2$ plasma.