• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.255-263
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• 2008

Adhesion tests were conducted to investigate the adhesion characteristics between mold and thermoplastic polymer film. Coating of anti-sticking layer (ASL), a kind of polymer material, imprint pressure, and separation velocity were considered as the process conditions. A piece of fused silica without patterns on its surface was used as a mold and the thermoplastic polymer films were made on Si substrate by spin-coating the commercial polymer solution such as mr-I PMMA and mr-I 7020. The ASL was derived from (1H, 1H, 2H, 2H - perfluorooctyl) trichlorosilane($F_{13}$-OTS) and coated on the fused silica mold in vapor phase. The pull-off force was measured in various process conditions and the surfaces of the mold and the polymer film were observed after separation. It was found that the adhesion characteristics between the mold and the thermoplastic polymer film and the release performance of ASL were changed according to the process conditions. The ASL was effective to reduce the pull-off force and the damage of polymer film. In cases of the mold coated with ASL, the pull-off force did not depend on imprint pressure and separation velocity.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2007.05a
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• pp.343-348
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• 2007

Molecular dynamics study of thermal NIL (Nano Imprint Lithography) process is performed to examine stamp-resist interactions. A layered structure consists of Ni stamp, poly-(methylmethacrylate) thin film resist and Si substrate was constructed for isothermal ensemble simulations. Imposing confined periodicity to the layered unit-cell, sequential movement of stamp followed by NVT simulation was implemented in accordance with the real NIL process. Both vdW and electrostatic potentials were considered in all non-bond interactions and resultant interaction energy between stamp and PMMA resist was monitored during stamping and releasing procedures. As a result, the stamp-resist interaction energy shows repulsive and adhesive characteristics in indentation and release respectively and irregular atomic concentration near the patterned layer were observed. Also, the spring back and rearrangement of PMMA molecules were analyzed in releasing process.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.1-7
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• 2007

Nanoimprint lithography (NIL) is an emerging technology enabling cost-effective and high-throughput nanofabrication. To successfully imprint a nano-sized pattern, the process conditions such as temperature, pressure, and time should be appropriately selected. This starts with a clear understanding of polymer material behavior during the NIL process. In this work, the squeezing of thin polymer films into nanocavities during the thermal NIL has been investigated based upon a two-dimensional viscoelastic finite element analysis in order to understand how the process conditions affect a pattern quality. The simulations have been performed within the viscoelastic plateau region and the stress relaxation effect has been taken into account.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.182-189
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• 2006

In this paper, the adhesion characteristics between a fused silica without or with an anti-sticking layer and a thermoplastic polymer film used in thermal NIL were investigated experimentally in order to identify the release performance of the anti-sticking layer. The anti-sticking layers were derived from fluoroalkylsilanes, (1H, 1 H, 2H, 2H-perfluorooctyl)trichlorosilane ($F_{13}-OTS$) and (3, 3, 3-trifluoropropyl)trichlorosilane (FPTS), and coated on the silica surface in vapor phase. The commercial polymers, mr-I 7020 and 8020 (micro resist technology, GmbH), for thermal NIL were spin-coated on Si substrate with a rectangular island which was fabricated by conventional microfabrication process to achieve small contact area and easy alignment of flat contact sur- faces. Experimental conditions were similar to the process conditions of thermal NIL. When the polymer film on the island was separated from the silica surface after imprint process, the adhesion force between the silica surface and the polymer film was measured and the surfaces of the silica and the polymer film after the separation were observed. As a result, the anti-sticking layers remarkably reduced the adhesion force and the surface damage of polymer film and the chain length of silane affects the adhesion characteristics. The anti-sticking layers derived from FPTS and $F_{13}-OTS$ reduced the adhesion force per unit area to 38% and 16% of the silica sur-faces without an anti-sticking layer, respectively. The anti-sticking layer derived from $F_{13}-OTS$ was more effective to reduce the adhesion, while both of the anti-sticking layers prevented the surface damages of the polymer film. Finally, it is also found that the adhesion characteristics of mr-I 7020 and mr-I 8020 polymer films were similar with each other.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2003.06a
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• pp.1220-1223
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• 2003

The UV nanoimprint technology uses the UV light as the energy source. Because the imprint process is carried out in room temperature and low pressure, this technology has its own merits compared to the thermal nanoimprint. However, in UV nanoimprint technology, a resin which has low viscosity is essential for the improvement of accuracy. In this research, a resin (named as IMS01) which has relatively low viscosity was developed. And a measurement system was developed in order to measure the degree of cure of the resin. The measurement system which is composed of FT-IR, UV light source and optical guide can measure the degree of cure in real time. From the experimental results, it was found that the IMS01 is cured more rapidly than existing resin (PAK01).

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.18 no.8
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• pp.616-624
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• 2009

In this work we demonstrate the hot-embossing process under different forming conditions such as forming temperature, load, and holding time in pressing, in order to determine the suitable conditions required for linear patterning on polymer plates (PC). Results showed that the replicated pattern depth increased in proportion to an increase in the forming temperature, load, and time. The reduction of the workpiece thickness increased according to the holding time in the pressing process. In the process of time, the reduction ratio of the workpiece thickness decreased due to the surface area increment of the workpiece, while the pressure on the workpiece declined. In order to reduce the bulging ratio we introduced a temperature difference between the upper and the lower punch.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.83-89
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• 2012

Due to the potential importance and usefulness, usage of highly ordered nanoporous anodized aluminum oxide can be broadened in industry, when highly ordered anodized aluminum oxide can be placed on a substrate with controlled thickness. Here we report a facile route to highly ordered nanoporous alumina with the thickness of hundreds-of-nanometer on a silicon wafer substrate. Hexagonally or tetragonally ordered nanoporous alumina could be prepared by way of thermal imprinting, dry etching, and anodization. Adoption of reusable polymer soft molds enabled the control of the thickness of the highly ordered porous alumina. It also increased reproducibility of imprinting process and reduced the expense for mold production and pattern generation. As nanoporous alumina templates are mechanically and thermally stable, we expect that the simple and costeffective fabrication through our method would be highly applicable in electronics industry.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Technology of Plasticity Conference
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• 2007.10a
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• pp.364-367
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• 2007

In nano-imprint lithography (NIL) process, which has shown to be a good method to fabricate polymeric patterns, several kinds of pattern defects due to thermal effects during polymer flow and mold release operation have been reported. A typical defect in NIL process with high aspect ratio and low resist thickness pattern is a resist fracture during the mold release operation. It seems due to interfacial adhesion between polymer and mold. However, in the present investigation, FEM simulation of NIL molding process was carried out to predict the defects of the polymer pattern and to optimize the process by FEA. The embossing operation in NIL process was investigated in detail by FEM. From the analytical results, it was found that the lateral flow of polymer resin and the applied pressure in the embossing operation induce the weld line and the drastic lateral strain at the edge of pattern. It was also shown that the low polymer-thickness result in the delamination of polymer from the substrate. It seems that the above phenomena cause the defects of the final polymer pattern. To reduce the defect, it is important to check the initial resin thickness.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.91-96
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• 2016

In this study, effects of demolding temperature (DT) on the formability and optical properties were evaluated in order to optimize thermal nanoimprint lithography for anti-reflective film. Characterization on optical property showed that optical performance was gradually enhanced as the DT increased up to $70^{\circ}C$ while the transmittance and the reflectance was degraded as the DT increased further to $100^{\circ}C$. In addition, similar behavior was observed from formability analysis. It was contributed to the formation of free volume and viscose flow. Therefore, it was concluded that the formability and optical property are highly influenced by the formation of free volume and viscous flow of polymer depending on the DT.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.1838-1843
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• 2014

Nanoimprint lithography (NIL) fabrication process is regarded as the main alternative to existing expensive photo-lithography in areas such as micro- and nano-electronics including optical components and sensors, as well as the solar cell and display device industries. Functional patterns, including anti-reflective moth-eye pattern, photonic crystal pattern, fabricated by NIL can improve the overall efficiency of such devices. To successfully imprint a nano-sized pattern, the process conditions such as temperature, pressure, and time should be appropriately selected. In this paper, a cavity-filling process of the moth-eye pattern during the thermal-NIL within the temperature range, where the polymer resist shows the viscoelastic behaviors with consideration of stress relaxation effect of the polymer, were investigated with three-dimensional finite element analysis. The effects of initial thickness of polymer resist and imprinting pressure on cavity-filling process has been discussed. From the analysis results it was found that the cavity filling can be completed within 100 s, under the pressure of more than 4 MPa.