Numerical analysis on PET demolding stage in thermal nanoimprinting lithography

Abstract

Thermal nanoimprinting of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is another ideal method for fabrication of 2D (two dimensional) nanochannels with low cost and high replication precision. However, the demolding stage which influences the replication precision of the final PET nanochannels has not yet been studied. In this work, the effect of the demolding angle, demolding temperature and friction coefficient between the 2D silicon nano-mold and the PET substrate on the maximum local stress of the 2D PET nanochannels was investigated by finite element method. The results show that the maximum local stress appears at 0.8 s (the total demolding time is 1 s), which indicates that the damage of PET nanochannels could be more likely to occur at the end of the demolding stage. According to the simulation results, in order to separate the 2D silicon nano-mold and the PET substrate without nanochannels damage, the following processing parameters are suggested: demolding angle of 0°, demolding temperature of 55 °C and an anti-sticking treatment on the surface of the mold.