FinalProjectreport

NanoimprintingLithography

ZijianZhao,
ShenminGong,Mukund

Choudhary,YeeZhia
n
12/18/2015

Introduction
:TheNanoimprintlithography(NIL)isanovelmethodoffabricating
micro/nanometerscalepatternswithlowcost,highthroughputandhighresolution(Chouetal.,
1996).Unliketraditionallyopticallithographicapproaches,whichcreatepatternthroughtheuse
ofphotonsorelectronstomodifythechemicalandphysicalpropertiesoftheresist,NILrelieson
directmechanicaldeformationoftheresistandcanthereforeachieveresolutionsbeyondthe
limitationssetbylightdiffractionorbeamscatteringthatareencounteredinconventional
lithographictechniques(Guo,2007).TheresolutionofNILmainlydependsontheminimum
templatefeaturesizethatcanbefabricated.Comparewithopticallithographyandnext
generationlithography(NGL),thedifferenceinprinciplesmakesNILcapableofproducing
sub10nmfeaturesoveralargeareawithahighthroughputandlowcost(Chouetal.,1997).
Therefore,thecharmofNILlargelycomesfromitscapabilityforpatterningwithhigh
resolution,highfidelity,highthroughput,andlowcost.Inaddition,nanometersizedpatternscan
easilybeformedonvarioussubstrates,e.g.,siliconwafers,glassplates,flexiblepolymerfilms,
andevennonplanarsubstrates.TheprocesshasbeenaddedtotheInternationalTechnology
RoadmapforSemiconductors(ITRS)forthe32and22nmnodes.Toshiba,moreover,has
validateditfor22nmandbeyond.WhatismoresignificantisthatNIListhefirstsub30nm
lithographytobevalidatedbyanindustrialuser(HongboLanetal,).

History
:Thehistoryofimprinttechnologyaslithographymethodforpatternreplicationcanbe
tracedbackto1970sbutthemostsignificantprogresshasbeenmadebytheresearchgroupof
S.Chouinthe1990s.Sincethen,ithasbecomeapopulartechniquewitharapidlygrowing
interestfrombothresearchandindustrialsidesandavarietyofnewapproacheshavebeen
proposedalongthemainstreamscientificadvances.Indeed,theinitialproposalofChouhasbeen
madeforthemassproductionofhighdensitymagneticstoragemediaandithasbeenusedto
demonstratethefeasibilityofallkindoffinestructurepatterningatananometerscaleresolution
whichisnowcallednanoimprintlithography.

S.Chou

Process
:Therearetwomainprocessesin
Nanoimprintlithography(NIL):Thermoplastic
NanoimprintlithographyandPhotoNanoimprintlithography.Thermoplasticlithographyuses
solidresistandPhotoNanoimprintlithographyusesliquidresist.
ThermoplasticNanoimprintlithographyisdonebyfirstSpincoatingthinlayerofimprintresist
ontothesamplesubstrate.Wethenmovetobringingamoldwithpredefinedpatternsisbrought
incontactwithsample.TheMoldisthenheatedandpressedagainstthepolymer(imprintresist).
Itisthencooleddownandthemoldisthenseparatedfromthepolymer.FollowingthisaPattern
transferprocess(etching)isusedtotransferthepatternintheresisttotheunderneath
substrate.(Chou,KraussandRenstorm)

PhotoNanoimprintlithographyisdonebyPhoto(UV)curableliquidresistisappliedtothe
samplesubstrate.Amoldwhichisnormallymadeupofatransparentmaterialisbroughtinto
contactwiththesubstrate.TheMoldandthesubstratearethenpressedtogetherandtheresistis
thencuredandsolidified.FollowingthatPatterntransferprocess(etching)usedtotransferthe
patternintheresisttotheunderneathsubstrate.

Photolithographyhascircumventedmanylimitationsduringitsdevelopmentandiswidelyused
tofabricatenanostructure.However,thelimitationsbasedonthephysicsofdiffractionand
interactionsofhighenergyphotonsarehardtoovercome.Thistechniquecannoteasilybe
performedonpolymericorcurvedsubstratesandcannotpatternlargeareaswithhighresolution
inasinglestep.Italsohasthedisadvantageofhighcapitalandoperationalcost.Henceinorder
toaccomplishsmallerfeaturesatalowercost,newpatterningtechniquesarebeingexploredand
developed.
Advantages
:Thefirstadvantageswillbethe
abilitytopattern3Dandlargeareastructure.This
methodcanpatternitfrommicrontonanometerscale.Photolithographycannotproduce3D
becauseofthevaryingthickness.Thenextadvantageswillbeitshighthroughput.High
throughputmeanstherewillbelargeamountofmaterialsthatcanbepassingthroughaprocess.
Itcanbedonewithparallelprintingwhichcanbeexposedtolargeareaatonce.Nanoimprinting
lithographyhasahigherresolutionwhichcanbelimitdowninto10nmresolution.Since
photolithographyresolutionislimitedbydiffractionandthatiswhyitsresolutionislow.
Furthermore,thismethodhasthesimplerprocesscomparetophotolithography.Whatithastodo
istouseamoldandimprintthesoftmaterialintotheshapethatwewant.Themostshocking

advantageforthismethodisthecostisreallylowbecauseitusesnanosphere,whichisfairly
cheap,toshapethepatternoflight.Lastbutnotleast,thereisalmostnotroubleforusingthis
method.Whattheyuseforthemoldaremadeofplasticwhichhasbeenusedasstampsthe
patternthe3Dmaskanditisreallyeasytouse.

Disadvantages
:However,thereissomedisadvantagesforthismethod.Itmightencountered
defectsproblem.Asweknow,fabricationtechniqueissensitivetosmalldefectswhichcan
destroytheentirechip.Whatwewanttodoittomakesurethedefectdensityislowenough
whichweareimprintit.Inthisscenario,whatweareworryingisthatsomeoftheresistmightbe
pulloff,soitmightdamagethetemplatewhichcausedefectsormaybeliquidisstickupwhile
wepulloffanditcausesbubbletoitandthereforesomepartmightnotgetimprint.Thesecond
problemwillbetheoverlay.Someapplicationdoesnotneedtoconcernaboutoverlay,butitis
importanttoconcernonoverlayproblemforsemiconductormanufacturing.Semiconductor
manufacturingneedstightoverlaytolerancetoprintonepatternonanotherwhichhastomatch
withfewnanometer.Sincethenanometerisreallytiny,itisdifficulttodowithimprint.Also,it
isgoingtohaveaproblemifwediditwithlargeamountofwaferwithnanoimprinting
lithography.Whileweprintthe10thwafer,thesizeofthewafermightchangeduetothewafer
temperatureandthusitcancausealignmentproblem.Forthelastdisadvantages,itisgoingtodo
withthetemplatemanufacturing(1X).Asweknow,itishardtomakeatemplate,thefeatureof
thetemplatearethesamedimensionasthethefeaturethatweareprintingonthesubstrate,
whichmeansitisharderforustopositionthepattern.Therefore,itcanhavedistortiononmask
ortemplatewhichcausesbadqualitywafer.


Thispictureshowsthedefectsonthewaferbyusingnanoimprintlithography.

Application
:Herearesomeapplicationsaboutnanoimprintinglithography.Electricaldevice
applications,opticalandphotonicsapplicationsandbiologicalapplications.Inourpresentation,
weintroduceanelectricaldeviceapplicationandaphotonicsapplication.

ThispictureisasixtynanometerchannellengthMOSFETfabricatedona4inchwaferusingthe
nanoimprintinginallfourlevellithographlevels(activearea,gate,viaandmetal).Alsothe
pictureshowstheresultsgraph,wecanseethetestresultsareverywellinthepicture.The

followingpictureisaphotonicapplication,synthesisofmultifunctionalplasmonicnanopillar
arrayusingsoftthermalnanoimprintinglithographyforhighlysensitiverefractiveindexsensing.
Asyoucanseeinthepart(a),itshowstheprocessofsoftthermalnanoimprintinglithography.In
thepart(b),wefabricatedasliverandgoldlayeronit(thegreyandyellowlayer).Thispicture
alsoshowthe3Dandlargeareastructuresinthebottom.Thisisoneoftheadvantagebyusing
nanoimprintinglithography.Thistechniquealsohavesomepossiblefuturedevelopment:Itis
possiblethatselfassemblestructureswillprovidetheultimatesolutionfortemplatesofperiodic
patternsatscalesof10nmandless.Itisalsopossibletoresolvethetemplategenerationissueby
usingaprogrammabletemplateinaschemebasedondoublepatterning.

Conclusion
:Inconclusion,Nanoimprintingcanbeusedonelectronics,photonicsandbiology
fields.Itisbetterbecauseofitshighthroughput,highresolution,lowcostprocessandhasthe
abilitytopatternon3D/largerstructure.

References
:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanoimprint_lithography
Chou,S.Y.Krauss,P.R.Renstrom,P.J.(1996)."ImprintLithographywith25Nanometer
Resolution".
Science

272
(5258):857.