Abstract
Nanoimprint lithography (NIL) is an imprinting technique which has experienced an increasing popularity due to its versatility in fabrication processes. Commercial NIL machines are readily available achieving high quality results; however, these machines involve a relatively high investment. Hence, small laboratories often choose to perform NIL copies in a more rudimentary and cheaper way. A new simple system is presented in this document. It is based on two devices which can be made in-house in plastic by using a 3D printer or in aluminum. Thus, the overall manufacturing complexity is vastly reduced. The presented system includes pressure control and potentially temperature control. Replicas have been made using a sawtooth grating master with a pitch around half micrometre. High quality patterns with low density of imperfections have been achieved in 2.25 cm2 surfaces. The material chosen for the negative intermediary mould is PDMS. Tests of the imprint have been performed using the commercial hybrid polymer Ormostamp®.
Highlights
Nanoimprint lithography (NIL) methods have shown excellent results for microstructure replication since the first reports made by Chou and his team in 1996.1,2 The technique has proven its flexibility having been employed in MEMs, electronics, biology applications, and polymer patterning.3–7 The low-cost associated with this technique, compared to other photo-lithographic techniques, has favoured its development in the research community.3 Industry has already developed devices able to perform high resolution and accurate replicas.8 Still, the commercial solutions are often out of economical range of small laboratories
A new simple system is presented in this document. It is based on two devices which can be made in-house in plastic by using a 3D printer or in aluminum
High quality patterns with low density of imperfections have been achieved in 2.25 cm2 surfaces
Summary
Nanoimprint lithography (NIL) methods have shown excellent results for microstructure replication since the first reports made by Chou and his team in 1996.1,2 The technique has proven its flexibility having been employed in MEMs, electronics, biology applications, and polymer patterning. The low-cost associated with this technique, compared to other photo-lithographic techniques, has favoured its development in the research community. Industry has already developed devices able to perform high resolution and accurate replicas. Still, the commercial solutions are often out of economical range of small laboratories. Alternative, manually controlled techniques (rolls or stamps) are often used. In these replications, pressure and temperature control is not as good as in commercial machines, often inexistent, leading to a limited degree of reproducibility. In this context, a system has been developed to generate a highly reproducible straight forward NIL device for low volumes. The method is based on using manufacturable parts made of low-cost materials. The materials may be plastics or low-cost metals, such as aluminum. If temperature control is required, the devices have to be made in metal, such as aluminum. An example of the imprinting will be shown as a proof of performance
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