mr-NIL 6000: new epoxy-based curing resist for efficient processing in combined thermal and UV nanoimprint lithography

Christine Schuster; Mike Kubenz; Freimut Reuther; Marion Fink; Gabi Gruetzner

doi:10.1117/12.713094

15 March 2007 mr-NIL 6000: new epoxy-based curing resist for efficient processing in combined thermal and UV nanoimprint lithography

Christine Schuster, Mike Kubenz, Freimut Reuther, Marion Fink, Gabi Gruetzner

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 6517, Emerging Lithographic Technologies XI; 65172B (2007) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.713094
Event: SPIE Advanced Lithography, 2007, San Jose, California, United States

Abstract

We report the new epoxy-based curing resist mr-NIL 6000 designed for thermal NIL, where the curing reaction is initiated by UV exposure and concurrently occurs at elevated temperature, both preferably in the imprint machine. Especially for the application in NIL the requirements to a resist differ much from those in radiation-based lithography where epoxy-based resists have been used for many years. High sensitivity is vital for a short cycle time. The imprint temperature is determined by the glass transition temperature (T_g) of the resist system before curing and roughly controls T_g of the cured polymer, which on its part, affects the mold release temperature and the thermal stability of the imprints. An epoxy resin with low T_g was chosen allowing imprinting at 100 °C or lower temperature. UV-coupled differential scanning calorimetry (Photo DSC) was applied to assist establishing the conditions of the resist processing. Optimum processing conditions were finally elaborated in imprinting tests. Flow tests were performed with the imprinted and cured resist patterns. The optimum imprint temperature was determined to be 100 °C. The imprinted patterns exhibited good dimensional stability up to at least 120 °C. This allows releasing the mold at the imprint temperature and running an isothermal process. The thermal stability is sufficient for subsequent processes, such as etching or metallization. The curing reaction during imprinting enables excellent pattern transfer fidelity and a high aspect ratio of the imprinted features. A short cycle time of ~ 1 min could be achieved so that the resist is promising for industrial applications.

Citation Download Citation

Christine Schuster, Mike Kubenz, Freimut Reuther, Marion Fink, and Gabi Gruetzner "mr-NIL 6000: new epoxy-based curing resist for efficient processing in combined thermal and UV nanoimprint lithography", Proc. SPIE 6517, Emerging Lithographic Technologies XI, 65172B (15 March 2007); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.713094

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