Reversal imprinting by transferring polymer from mold to substrate

Abstract

A reversal imprinting technique was developed in this study. A polymer layer was first spin coated on a patterned hard mold, and then transferred to a substrate under an elevated temperature and pressure. The reversal imprinting method offers an advantage over conventional nanoimprinting by allowing imprinting onto substrates that cannot be easily spin coated, such as flexible polymer substrates. Another unique feature of reversal imprinting is that three different pattern-transfer modes can be achieved by controlling the degree of surface planarization of the mold after spin coating the polymer resist as well as the imprinting temperature. ''Embossing'' occurs at temperatures well above the glass transition temperature (T g) of a polymer; ''inking'' occurs at temperatures around T g with nonplanarized polymer coating surface on the mold; and ''whole-layer transfer'' occurs at temperatures around T g but with a somewhat planarized surface. These three imprinting modes have been quantitatively correlated with the surface planarization of the mold after polymer coating and the imprinting temperature.

Solid state microcavity dye lasers fabricated by nanoimprint lithography

“…Electronic mail: ak@mic.dtu.dk PMMA, fabricated by reverse imprinting, 20 where the polymer (dissolved in a suitable solvent) is spin-coated onto the stamp, baked, and subsequently transferred to a substrate.…”

Nanopattern-induced changes in morphology and motility of smooth muscle cells

“…We have recently developed nanoimprinting techniques that can produce a wide range of nanostructures, including multilayer three-dimensional structures made of flexible polymers [29,30]. In this study we examined the behavior SMC cultured on poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and poly(dimethlsiloxane) (PDMS) surfaces, consisting of nanopatterned gratings with 350 nm linewidth, 700 nm pitch, and 350 nm depth.…”

Fabrication of Photonic Crystal Structures on Flexible Organic Light-Emitting Diodes by Using Nano-Imprint and PDMS Mold

“…The nanoimprint lithography which is a hot embossing lithography is proposed by Stephen Y. Chou in 1995 [8]. Now, several NIL have been developed like in the following example: UV-NIL [6], soft lithography [9], a combined nanoimprint and photolithography (CNP) patterning technique [10,11], Laser-Assister Direct Imprint (LADI) process [12], and reversal imprinting [13]. In the stand NIL, the transferred pattern will be fail (or broken) due to the pattern size is too small or imprinted stress is too big, etc.…”