Nanoimprint lithography (NIL) is a high throughput, high-resolution parallel patterning method in which a surface pattern of a stamp is replicated into a material by mechanical contact and three dimensional material displacement. This can be done by shaping a liquid followed by a curing process for hardening, by variation of the thermomechanical properties of a film by heating and cooling, or by any other kind of shaping process using the difference in hardness of a mold and a moldable material. The local thickness contrast of the resulting thin molded film can be used as a means to pattern an underlying substrate on wafer level by standard pattern transfer methods, but also directly in applications where a bulk modified functional layer is needed. Therefore it is mainly aimed toward fields in which electron beam and high-end photolithography are costly and do not provide sufficient resolution at reasonable throughput. The aim of this review is to play between two poles: the need to establish standard processes and tools for research and industry, and the issues that make NIL a scientific endeavor. It is not the author’s intention to duplicate the content of the reviews already published, but to look on the NIL process as a whole. The author will also address some issues, which are not covered by the other reviews, e.g., the origin of NIL and the misconceptions, which sometimes dominate the debate about problems of NIL, and guide the reader to issues, which are often forgotten or overlooked.

/pdf/nanoimprint-lithography-an-old-story-in-modern-times-a-2lq7ufuk7g.pdf

Nanoimprint lithography: An old story in modern times? A review

Nanoimprint is an emerging lithographic technology that promises high-throughput patterning of nanostructures. Based on the mechanical embossing principle, nanoimprint technique can achieve pattern resolutions beyond the limitations set by the light diffractions or beam scatterings in other conventional techniques. This article reviews the basic principles of nanoimprint technology and some of the recent progress in this field. It also explores a few alternative approaches that are related to nanoimprint as well as additive approaches for patterning polymer structures. Nanoimprint technology can not only create resist patterns as in lithography but can also imprint functional device structures in polymers. This property is exploited in several non-traditional microelectronic applications in the areas of photonics and biotechnology.

https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/48920/d4_11_r01.pdf?sequence=2

Recent progress in nanoimprint technology and its applications

Elastomeric stamps facilitate direct patterning of electrical, biological, chemical, and mechanical materials A thin film of material is deposited on a substrate The deposited material, either originally present as a liquid or subsequently liquefied, is patterned by embossing at low pressure using an elastomeric stamp having a raised pattern The patterned liquid is then cured to form a functional layer The deposition, embossing, and curing steps may be repeated numerous times with the same or different liquids, and in two or three dimensions The various deposited layers may, for example, have varying electrical characteristics, interacting so as to produce an integrated electronic component

R. W. Jaszewski

Papers

The deposition of anti-adhesive ultra-thin teflon-like films and their interaction with polymers during hot embossing

Hot embossing in polymers as a direct way to pattern resist

Nanostructuring of polymers and fabrication of interdigitated electrodes by hot embossing lithography

Properties of thin anti-adhesive films used for the replication of microstructures in polymers