Fabrication of sub-25 nm diameter pillar nanoimprint molds with smooth sidewalls usingself-perfection by liquefaction and reactive ion etching

Abstract

Self-perfection by liquefaction (SPEL) was used to fabricate nanoimprint molds with an arrayof sub-25 nm diameter pillars (200 nm period), resulting in nearly perfect cylindrical shape andsmooth sidewalls. SPEL turned an array of irregularly shaped Cr polygons into an array ofnearly perfect circular dots with small diameter. The Cr dot arrays were then transferred toSiO2 or Si pillar arrays by means of reactive ion etching to produce imprint molds.High-fidelity nanoimprint lithography using the pillar molds was also demonstrated.