A dual-curable transfer layer for adhesion enhancement of a multilayer UV-curable nanoimprint resist system

Abstract

We invented a dual-curable transfer layer to enhance adhesion of the UV-curable nanoimprint resist to the substrate. Based on this transfer layer, we developed bilayer resist and trilayer resist UV-curable nanoimprint lithography processes, which were used for etching and lift-off processes, respectively. The dual-curable transfer layer combined at least two different types of reactive functions based on different polymerization mechanisms. It formed strong chemical bonds with both the underneath material and the nanoimprint resist layer in two curing steps. It helped improve the adhesion of the low surface energy resist film to the substrate substantially, and, more importantly, made high-resolution patterning much more reliable. Moreover, low aspect ratio imprinted patterns were amplified into high aspect ratio patterns through the transfer layer via a selective etching process.