Submicron imprint patterning of compound sheet with ceramic nanopowder

Abstract

Nanoimprint lithography is a highly productive process and has an advantage in its resolution of printed patterns. In this paper, inorganic materials are imprinted using mixtures of nanopowders and polymer binder as starting materials. In our previous work, line-and-space patterns with the smallest pitch of about 8 μm were shown on sintered ceramic sheets using ceramic powders with the smallest particle size of about 100 nm. In this study, we prepare alumina powders with an average particle size of about 100 nm and five kinds of molds with line-and-space patterns with line widths from 10 μm to 250 nm. The line-and-space patterns were observed on all sintered samples. Although the patterns were not clear on the finer patterns, this result is remarkable. Also, we discuss how the pattern was affected by mold size and particle size.