Thermal and UV Nanoimprint (NIL)
The NanoImprint Lithography (NIL) system applies controlled pressure and temperature to replicate nanostructures on polymer samples, which can be cured by heat (Thermal NIL) or UV light (UV NIL) during the imprinting process.
Thermal NIL
A master mold that includes the nanostructures is pressed against a thin polymer substrate heated above its glass transition temperature, at a given pressure for a specific time. After being cooled down, the mold is detached from the substrate and the imprinted pattern remains transferred in the polymer layer.
UV NIL
In this method, no heat is applied to the polymer layer. Instead, polymer crosslinking is induced by UV radiation during the imprint step. Normally, the UV light is applied through the mold, which must be made of a UV-transparent material such as quartz or fused silica.
In the case of substrates covered with spin coated polymer, an additional step is necessary. Once the pattern is transferred onto the polymer layer, the residual imprint polymer layer of the compressed regions must be removed by Reactive-Ion Etching using oxygen or a combination of argon-oxygen plasma.
This technique is widely used for microstructure fabrication for electrical, optical,photonic and biological applications.
Technical especifications
Manufacturer: Obducat AB
Model: NIL-2.5 system
- Substrate size: 10 to 65 mm in diameter (2.5”)
- Temperature range: up to 250°C
- Operating pressure range: from 5 up to 70 bar
- Pressure applied hydraulically, thus leading to a process uniformity of 10 nm on the maximum surface available.
- The design of the heater provides a homogeneous temperature distribution across the whole imprint area.
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