Abstract
This research investigates deformation behavior of polystyrene (PS) as a thermoplastic resist material for the thermal nanoimprint lithography (T-NIL) process. Molecular dynamics modeling was conducted on a PS substrate with dimensions 58 × 65 × 61 Å that was imprinted with a rigid, spherical indenter. The effect of indenter size, force, and imprinting duration were evaluated in terms of indentation depth, penetration depth, recovery depth, and recovery percentage of the polymer. The results show that the largest indenter, regardless of force, has the most significant impact on deformation behavior. The 40 Å indenter with a 1 µN of force caused the surface molecules to descend to the lowest point compared to the other indenters. An increase in indenter size resulted in higher penetration depth, recovery depth, and recovery percentage. Higher durations of imprint cycle (400 fs) resulted in plastic deformation of the PS material with minimal recovery (4 Å). The results of this research lay the foundation for explaining the effect of several T-NIL process parameters on virgin PS thermoplastic resist material.
Highlights
Nanoimprint lithography (NIL) is a versatile high precision method to produce nanoscale features by mechanical deformation of an ultra-thin film polymer resist [1]
Our work investigates the interplay of different process parameters on the deformation behavior of PS in nanoimprint lithography using molecular dynamics modeling
Molecular dynamics model results were analyzed for different indenter sizes and applied forces
Summary
Nanoimprint lithography (NIL) is a versatile high precision method to produce nanoscale features by mechanical deformation of an ultra-thin film polymer resist [1]. NIL was developed as a high throughput fabrication technique by Stephen Chou and his research team [2,3]. In the UV-NIL process, ultra-violet light is used to cure the polymer resist material on a substrate to fabricate nanoscale features using a transparent patterning mold. Our group employs the T-NIL method, wherein a thermoplastic resist is applied onto a rigid substrate and imprinted by a rigid mold [6]. Different types of mold materials and geometries are implemented depending on the features to be imprinted [7]. Molds are fabricated using focused ion beam (FIB) technology from silicon and silicon dioxide materials
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