• KSBB Journal
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.433-437
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• 2007

A constant desire has been to fabricate nanopatterns for biochip and the Ultraviolet-nano imprint lithography (UV-NIL) is promising technology especially compared with thermal type in view of cost effectiveness. By using this method, nano-scale to micro-scale structures also called nanopore structures can be fabricated on large scale gold plate at normal conditions such as room temperature or low pressure which is not possible in thermal type lithography. One of the most important methods in fabricating biochips, immobilizing, was processed successfully by using this technology. That means immobilizing proteins only on the nanopore structures based on gold, not on hardened resin by UV is now possible by utilizing this method. So this selective nano-patterning process of protein can be useful method fabricating nanoscale protein chip.

• 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.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.35-39
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• 2005

In the UV-NIL process using an elementwise patterned stamp (EPS), which includes channels formed to separate each element with patterns, low-viscosity resin droplets with a nano-liter volume are dispensed on all elements of the EPS. Following pressing of the EPS, the EPS is illuminated with UV-light to cure the resin; and then the EPS is separated from several thin patterned elements on a wafer. Experiments on UV-NIL were performed on an EVG620-NIL. 50 - 100nm features of the EPS with 3m channels were successfully transferred to 4 in. wafers. Especially, the wafer deformation during imprint was analyzed using the finite element method (FEM) in order to study the effect of the wafer deformation on the UV-NIL using EPS.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.65-70
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• 2023

Nanoimprint lithography (NIL) has attracted much attention due to its process simplicity, excellent patternability, process scalability, high productivity, and low processing cost for pattern formation. However, the pattern size that can be implemented on metal materials through conventional NIL technologies is generally limited to the micro level. Here, we introduce a novel hard imprint lithography method, extreme-pressure imprint lithography (EPIL), for the direct nano-to-microscale pattern formation on the surfaces of metal substrates with various thicknesses. The EPIL process allows reliable nanoscopic patterning on diverse surfaces, such as polymers, metals, and ceramics, without the use of ultraviolet (UV) light, laser, imprint resist, or electrical pulse. Micro/nano molds fabricated by laser micromachining and conventional photolithography are utilized for the nanopatterning of Al substrates through precise plastic deformation by applying high load or pressure at room temperature. We demonstrate micro/nanoscale pattern formation on the Al substrates with various thicknesses from 20 ㎛ to 100 mm. Moreover, we also show how to obtain controllable pattern structures on the surface of metallic materials via the versatile EPIL technique. We expect that this imprint lithography-based new approach will be applied to other emerging nanofabrication methods for various device applications with complex geometries on the surface of metallic materials.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.18-23
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• 2024

Nanoimprint lithography (NIL) is widely used to form structures ranging from micro to nanoscale due to its advantage of generating high-resolution patterns at a low process cost. However, most NIL processes require the use of imprint resists and external elements such as ultraviolet light or heat, necessitating additional post-processes like etching or metal deposition to pattern the target material. Furthermore, patterning on flexible and/or non-planar films presents significant challenges. This study introduces an extreme pressure imprint lithography (EPIL) process that can form micro-/nano-scale patterns on the surface of a flexible rubber magnet composite (RMC) film at room temperature without an etching process. The EPIL technique can form ultrafine structures over large areas through the plastic deformation of various materials, including metals, polymers, and ceramics. In this study, we demonstrate the process and outcomes of creating a variety of periodic structures with diverse pattern sizes and shapes on the surface of a flexible RMC composed of strontium ferrite and chlorinated polyethylene. The EPIL process, which allows for the precise patterning on the surface of RMC materials, is expected to find broad applications in the production of advanced electromagnetic device components that require fine control and changes in magnetic orientation.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2005.06a
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• pp.672-675
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• 2005

To imprint 70-nm wide line-patterns, we used a newly developed ultraviolet nanoimprint lithography (UV-NIL) process in which an elementwise patterned stamp (EPS), a large-area stamp, and pressurized air are used to imprint a wafer in a single step. For a single-step UV-NIL of a 4' wafer, we fabricated two identical $5'\times5'\times0.09'(W{\times}L{\times}H)$ quartz EPSs, except that one is with nanopatterns and the other without nanopatterns. Both of them consist of 16 small-area stamps, called elements, each of which is $10\;mm\;\times\;10\;mm$. UV-curable low-viscosity resin droplets were dispensed directly on each element of the EPSs. The volume and viscosity of each droplet are 3.7 nl and 7 cps. Droplets were dispensed in such a way that no air entrapment between elements and wafer occurs. When the droplets were fully pressed between ESP and wafer, some incompletely filled elements were observed because of the topology mismatch between EPS and wafer. To complete those incomplete fillings, pressurized air of 2 bar was applied to the bottom of the wafer for 2 min. Experimental results have shown that nanopatterns of the EPS were successfully transferred to the resin layer on the wafer.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.1917-1921
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• 2008

Ultraviolet-nanoimprint lithography (UV-NIL) is promising technology for cost effectively defining micro/nano scale structure at room temperature and low pressure. In addition, this technology is fascinating because of it's possibility for high-throughput patterning without complex processes. However, to acquire good micro/nano patterns using this technology, there are some challenges such as uniformity and fidelity of patterns, etc. In this paper, we have focused on uniform contact mechanism and performed contact mechanics analysis. The dimension of the flexible sheet to get adequate uniform contact area has been obtained from contact mechanics simulation. Based on this analysis, we have made a uniform pressurizing device and confirmed its uniform pressurized zone using a pressure sensing paper.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.1847-1850
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• 2008

The process conditions during ultraviolet nanoimprint lithography (UV-NIL) process such as temperature, stamping pressure, UV irradiation, etc. are effective factors for successful imprinting of complex and fine patterns. In this study, the effects of aluminum mold on the thermal characteristics of UV-NIL process were investigated through imprinting experiments and numerical simulations. The temperature of polymer resin on mold was measured to study thermal characteristics during UV curing. From the experimental and numerical results, the importance of curing reaction control for UV-NIL process was discussed for deformation characteristics.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Technology of Plasticity Conference
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• 2005.10a
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• pp.167-170
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• 2005

The two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) diamond-like carbon (DLC) stamps for ultraviolet nanoimprint lithography (UV-NIL) were fabricated using two kinds of methods, which were a DLC coating process followed by the focused ion beam (FIB) lithography and the two-photon polymerization (TPP) patterning followed by nano-scale thick DLC coating. We fabricated 70 nm deep lines with a width of 100 nm and 70 nm deep lines with a width of 150 nm on 100 nm thick DLC layers coated on quartz substrates using the FIB lithography. 200 nm wide lines, 3D rings with a diameter of $1.35\;{\mu}m$ and a height of $1.97\;{\mu}m$, and a 3D cone with a bottom diameter of $2.88\;{\mu}m$ and a height of $1.97\;{\mu}m$ were successfully fabricated using the TPP patterning and DLC coating process. The wafers were successfully printed on an UV-NIL using the DLC stamp. We could see the excellent correlation between the dimensions of features of stamp and the corresponding imprinted features.

• Journal of Information Display
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.49-51
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• 2010

Nanoimprint lithography (NIL) using ultraviolet (UV) rays is a technique in which unconventional lithographic patterns are formed on a substrate by curing a suitable liquid resist in contact with a transparent patterned mold, then releasing the freshly patterned material. Here, various solutions are introduced to achieve sufficient overlay accuracy and to overcome the technical challenges in resist patterning via UV imprinting. Moreover, resist patterning of all the layers in TFT and of the BM layer in CF was carried out using UV imprinting lithography to come up with a 12.1-inch TFT-LCD panel with a resolution of $1280{\times}800$ lines (125 ppi).