Nanoimprint Lithography with UV-Curable
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2010年第3期中国照明电器CHINA LIGHT&LIGHTING15提高GaN基发光二极管外量子效率的途径李为军(国家电光源质量监督检验中心(上海)、国家灯具质量监督检验中心、上海时代之光照明电器检测有限公司,上海200233)摘要发光二极管(LED)的低外量子效率严重制约了LED的发展,本文主要介绍了提高GaN基LED 外量子效率途径的最新进展,包括芯片非极性面/半极性面生长技术、分布布拉格反射层(DBR)结构、改变LED基底几何外形来改变光在LED内部反射的路径、表面粗化处理,以及新近的光子晶体技术和全息技术等。
并对纳米压印与SU8相结合技术在提高LED外量子光效率方面进行了初步探索。
关键词外量子效率芯片非极性面/半极性面生长技术分布布拉格反射层(DBR)结构光子晶体技术和全息技术纳米压印技术与SU8技术Improvement of the External Quantum Efficiency of GaN-based LEDsLi Weijun(National Light Source Quality Supervision Testing Center(Shanghai),China National Lighting Fitting Quality Supervision Testing Center,Shanghai Alpha Lighting Equipment Testing Ltd.,Shanghai200233)Abstract:The low external quantum efficiency ties up the development of LEDs.This article mainly introduces recent research progress of increasing the external quantum efficiency of GaN-based LEDs.The ways of improvement mainly include that micro-surface roughening,micro-pattern substrates and distributed Bragg reflector(DBR)structure.Of course,recent methods,for example,non-polar or semi-polar plane growth technology,photonic crystal and holography technology are also discussed.At the same time,preliminary study on the combination of nano-imprint lithography and SU8technology is also noted in this paper.Key words:external quantum efficiency;non-polar or semi-polar plane growth technology;distributed Bragg reflector(DBR)structure;photonic crystal and holography technology;nano-imprint lithography and SU8technology1GaN基LED发展的历史和研究现状20世纪90年代中期,日本日亚化学公司的Nakamura等人经过不懈努力,突破了制造蓝光LED 的关键技术。
招聘集成电路应用工程师笔试题及解答(某大型央企)(答案在后面)一、单项选择题(本大题有10小题,每小题2分,共20分)1、在集成电路设计中,以下哪个是表示数字逻辑门的最基本单元?A. 集成电路芯片B. 逻辑门C. 晶体管D. 电阻2、以下哪项不是集成电路制造中的关键步骤?A. 光刻B. 化学气相沉积C. 蚀刻D. 压缩3、在集成电路设计中,以下哪种类型的电路在模拟信号处理中应用最为广泛?A、数字电路B、模拟电路C、数字-模拟混合电路D、光电子电路4、以下哪个选项是衡量集成电路性能的关键指标?A、晶体管尺寸B、集成电路功耗C、集成度D、工作频率5、以下哪个选项不是集成电路设计过程中的关键步骤?A. 电路设计B. 原型验证C. 物理设计D. 集成电路封装6、以下哪种工艺技术不是用于制造集成电路的主要技术?A. 光刻技术B. 纳米压印技术C. 化学气相沉积技术D. 电子束光刻技术7、在集成电路设计中,以下哪个模块通常用于实现数字信号的处理和转换?A. 运算放大器B. 模数转换器(ADC)C. 数字信号处理器(DSP)D. 电压调节器8、以下哪种技术用于在集成电路中实现高密度的存储?A. DRAMB. SRAMC. FlashD. EEPROM9、以下哪种类型的晶体管常用于集成电路中作为开关元件?A. 晶体二极管B. 双极型晶体管(BJT)C. 场效应晶体管(FET)D. 晶体三极管二、多项选择题(本大题有10小题,每小题4分,共40分)1、以下哪些技术或工具通常用于集成电路(IC)的设计和验证?A. HDL(硬件描述语言)B. SPICE(Simulation Program with Integrated Circuit Emphasis)C. EDA(电子设计自动化)工具D. FPGA(现场可编程门阵列)E. C语言编程2、以下哪些是集成电路制造过程中可能遇到的主要挑战?A. 缩放效应B. 材料纯度C. 热管理D. 漏电流控制E. 环境污染3、以下哪些技术是集成电路设计中的基本技术?()A. 电路模拟与仿真B. 电路分析与优化C. 电路布局与布线D. 版图设计E. 电路测试与验证4、下列哪些因素会影响集成电路的性能?()A. 晶体管尺寸B. 工艺技术C. 电路结构D. 电源电压E. 环境温度5、以下哪些技术或工具通常用于集成电路设计的验证阶段?()A. 仿真软件(如Vivado、ModelSim)B. 代码覆盖率分析工具C. 电路仿真工具(如LTspice)D. 集成电路版图检查工具E. 硬件在环测试(HIL)6、以下关于集成电路制造过程中的光刻技术描述正确的是哪些?()A. 光刻是集成电路制造中的关键步骤,用于将电路图案转移到硅片上。
关于纳米倒具的作文三百字英文回答:Nanotechnology is a fascinating field that has revolutionized many industries, and one of the most intriguing applications is the development of nano molds. Nano molds, also known as nanoimprint molds or nanoimprint templates, are used in a process called nanoimprint lithography.Nano molds are made using nanoscale fabrication techniques, where patterns are etched onto a substrate at the nanometer scale. These patterns can be used to create intricate structures and features on various materials, such as semiconductors or polymers. The molds are typically made of materials like silicon or quartz, which have excellent mechanical and thermal properties.The process of using nano molds involves pressing the mold onto a material and applying heat or pressure totransfer the pattern onto the material. This allows for the replication of the pattern in a precise and controlled manner. The resulting structures can have dimensions as small as a few nanometers, which is several orders of magnitude smaller than the width of a human hair.The use of nano molds has numerous applications. In the electronics industry, nanoimprint lithography can be used to create high-density memory chips or nanoscale transistors. In the biomedical field, nano molds can be used to create microfluidic devices for drug delivery or tissue engineering. They can also be used in the production of optical devices, such as lenses or waveguides.中文回答:纳米技术是一个令人着迷的领域,已经彻底改变了许多行业。
微纳制造、微流控及生物介观仿真陈勇【摘要】We first introduce the concept of mesoscopic biomimetics. Then, we briefly describe the methods of nanofabrication and microfluidics, followed by a few examples of their applications in me⁃soscopic bioengineering. Taking into account the rapid progress in all areas of life sciences, we be⁃lieve that this interdisciplinary approach will general great impact for both fundamental and applied researches.%首先解释了生物介观仿真的重要性,然后简要介绍了生物介观仿真的两个基本方法,即微纳制造和微流控技术,并描述了将这两种技术应用于生物介观仿真的几个例子。
鉴于生命科学中各学科领域的飞速发展,相信发展以微纳制造和微流控技术为基础的介观仿真工程对基础和应用研究都会有很大的推动。
【期刊名称】《江汉大学学报(自然科学版)》【年(卷),期】2014(000)003【总页数】4页(P5-8)【关键词】微纳制造;微流控;生物介观仿真【作者】陈勇【作者单位】江汉大学交叉学科研究院,光电化学材料与器件省部共建教育部重点实验室江汉大学,湖北武汉 430056【正文语种】中文【中图分类】TH16;TN3生物在地球上进化,适者生存;细胞在生物体内演变,生老病死;如此,个体与环境合二为一,自然而然,源远流长,此乃道。
然而,现代细胞生物学经常要将人体细胞取出研究,并须将其放置于培养皿中进行体外培养。
亚波长金属光栅偏振器制备技术研究杨江涛,王健安,王 银,胡 啸(太原科技大学电子信息工程学院,山西太原030024)摘要:亚波长周期结构光栅具有传统光栅所不具有的特殊特性,采用严格耦合波法设计并制作了一种柔性双层金属光栅偏振器,通过纳米压印技术在方形的PC(Polycarbonate,聚碳酸酯)上制备了周期为278nm,深度为110nm,占空比为0.5的亚波长光栅,通过磁控溅射技术在制作的介质光栅上沉积了70nm的金属铝层,制作了具有双层金属结构的柔性双层金属光栅偏振器,并用光谱测试系统进行了简单的性能测试。
实验结果表明,当入射光波长范围在350~800nm时,制作的柔性双层光栅偏振器偏振特性优良,且具有非常高的透过率和消光比,分别高达48%和100000。
该制作工艺只由纳米压印和金属蒸镀完成,省去了复杂的涂胶、剥离及刻蚀,因此在大批量生产偏振器方面具有很明显的优势,可普遍用于光探测器件、光电开光等半导体光电子器件的制作过程。
关键词:柔性;光栅偏振器;TM透射效率;消光比中图分类号:TH706 文献标识码:A 文章编号:1001-8891(2021)01-0008-05 Fabrication Technology of a Subwavelength Metal Grating PolarizerYANG Jiangtao,WANG Jianan,WANG Yin,HU Xiao(School of Electronics Information Engineering, Taiyuan University of Science & Technology, Taiyuan 030024, China)Abstract: Sub-wavelength periodic grating has special characteristics that are lacking in traditional grating. In this study, a flexible double-layer metal grating polarizer is designed and fabricated using a strict coupled wave method. Through nanoimprinting technology, sub-wavelength grating with a period of 278nm, depth of 110nm, and duty cycle of 0.5 is prepared on a square polycarbonate (PC). A 70nm metal aluminum layer is deposited on the fabricated dielectric grating by magnetron sputtering, and a double-layer metal structure is fabricated. A flexible double-layer metal grating polarizer is developed, and the performance of the polarizer is tested using a spectrum measurement system. Experimental results showed that when the wavelength range of the incident light was 350-800nm, the flexible double-layer grating polarizer had good polarization characteristics. The polarized light transmission efficiency and extinction ratio were as high as high as 48% and 100000, respectively. The manufacturing process involves only nanoimprinting and metal evaporation processes and thus excludes coating, stripping, and etching of the imprint adhesive. Therefore, our method exhibits evident advantages in terms of low-cost and batch production of large-area polarizers and thus can be widely used in the manufacturing process of semiconductor optoelectronic devices such as optical-detection and optoelectronic devices.Key words: flexible, wire-grid polarizer, TM transmission efficiency, extinction ratio0引言由两条金属线通过溅射的方式形成了一组窄缝,这组窄缝的距离小于入射光的波长,这就形成了亚波长金属光栅偏振器,它的体积属于纳米级别,但其偏振性能却非常好且容易集成,因此它被广泛应用于光通讯及液晶显示屏的制造中。
纳米压印技术的基本方法及其应用摘要:纳米压印技术具有加工成本低,使用设备简单,制备周期短等优点,是目前纳米沟道加工的主要技术。
本文介绍了纳米压印技术中热压印、紫外固化压印和微接触等三种典型的压印工艺及其关键技术,并对三种工艺方法的优缺点进行对比说明,总结了纳米压印技术的应用领域,最后对该技术的发展进行了总结和展望。
关键词:纳米压印技术热压印紫外固化压印微接触中图分类号:TH161The Main Method and Application of Nanoimprint Technology Abstract: Nanoimprint technology which has low cost, simple device and Short production cycle is the main technology in Nano-channel production. This article describes the typical embossing process and key technologies of Hot embossing, UV-curable Nanoimprint Lithograhpy and Micro-contact printing, introduce the advantages and disadvantages of these three methods by contrast, Summarizes the applications of nanoimprint technology, finally summarize and prospect the development of nanoimprint technology.Keywords:Nanoimprint technology Hot embossing UV-curable Micro-contact printing0 前言纳米压印技术是目前纳米沟道加工的主要技术。
用多层掩模去除纳米压印工艺中的残胶陈鑫;赵建宜;王智浩;王磊;周宁;刘文【摘要】When UV-Nanoimprint Lithography(NIL) is used in manufacturing gratings of Distributed Feedback Laser Diodes(DFB LDs),the resist often turns into a high polymer after curing and can not be eliminated completely.To eliminate the residual resist,a multi-mask layer process was demonstrated.In this process,a 50 nm SiO2 hard mask was deposited between the wafer and the UV-curable resist and then traditional nanoimprint lithography based on soft stamp UV-imprinting was executed.Following that,the Inductively Coupled Plasma(ICP) dry etching was used to transfer the pattern on the substrate.Finally,it was rinsed with Buffered Oxide Etchant(BOE)for a few seconds.The effect of etching timeon the duty ratio of grating was explored and the grating morphologies processed by traditional method and proposed method were compared.A scanning electron microscope image of rinsed grating shows that the grating with about 240 nm pitch and 82 nm depth offers a clean surface and a good feature.Therefore.The proposed method not only can eliminate the residual resist effectively but also can avoid the morphologic damage.%纳米压印工艺中的压印胶在固化后会发生聚合物的铰链,生成高分子聚合物,很难被一般有机溶剂清除,从而影响器件的性能.为有效去除压印残胶,提出一种利用多层掩模去除残胶的方法.该方法首先在基片和压印胶之间沉积一层50 nm的二氧化硅作为硬掩模;接着用纳米压印工艺将光栅图形转移到压印胶上,再用干法刻蚀将光栅图形转移到基片上;最后,放入BOE (buffered oxide etchant)中漂洗数秒以去除残胶.文中总结了刻蚀底胶时间对光栅占空比的影响,对比了经过多层掩模去残胶和传统去残胶的方法处理后的光栅形貌.电镜图片结果显示,采用本文方法经过漂洗的光栅表面残胶去除干净,形貌良好,其周期约为240 nm,深度约为82 nm.实验表明,多层掩模去残胶的方法不仅能够有效地去除刻蚀残胶,同时能够避免光栅形貌的损坏.【期刊名称】《光学精密工程》【年(卷),期】2013(021)006【总页数】6页(P1434-1439)【关键词】纳米压印技术;分布反馈激光器;残胶;多层掩模;软模板【作者】陈鑫;赵建宜;王智浩;王磊;周宁;刘文【作者单位】华中科技大学光电子科学与工程学院武汉光电国家实验室,湖北武汉430074;华中科技大学光电子科学与工程学院武汉光电国家实验室,湖北武汉430074;华中科技大学光电子科学与工程学院武汉光电国家实验室,湖北武汉430074;新一代光纤通信技术和网络国家重点实验室,湖北武汉430074;武汉光迅科技股份有限公司,湖北武汉430074;华中科技大学光电子科学与工程学院武汉光电国家实验室,湖北武汉430074;新一代光纤通信技术和网络国家重点实验室,湖北武汉430074【正文语种】中文【中图分类】TN305.71 引言1995年,普林斯顿大学纳米中心主任Stephen Chou提出了纳米压印技术[1],这是一种利用图形压模将模板上的图形转移到压印胶上,完成微纳图形制作的技术。
Nanoimprint Lithography with UV-Curable Hyperbranched Polymer NanocompositesVale´rie Geiser,Young-Hyun Jin,Yves Leterrier,*Jan-Anders E.Ma˚nson Summary:Nano-scale patterns were produced with UV-curable acrylated hyper-branched polymer nanocomposites using nanoimprint lithography with a glass master in a rapid,low-pressure process.The pattern of the glass master was replicated with composites containing up to25vol%SiO2with a shapefidelity better than98%.Photo-rheology,interferometry and atomic force microscopy were used to analyze the material behavior.Attention was paid to the relationship between composition,nanoparticle dispersion,kinetics of photo-polymerisation,shrinkage, pressure and shapefidelity of nano-gratings.It was shown that the gel-point of the nanocomposite was an important factor that determined the stability as well as the dimensions of the imprinted structure.Dimensional accuracy also strongly depended on the level of internal stress,which in fact increased with the amount of silica.A resin rich layer on the surface of the composite accounted for the good surface quality of the nano-pattern.Keywords:hyperbranched polymer;internal stress;nanocomposite;nanoimprint lithography;photo-polymerisationIntroductionNano-scale patterns are used in an increas-ing number of applications,ranging from optical sensors[1,2]to transistors.[3]Nanoim-print lithography(NIL)wasfirst reported by Chou[4,5]and is nowadays a well established contact lithography technique that allows for low-cost and high throughput production of nano-patterns and devices with sub-10nm[6]resolution.The efficiency of such devices is strongly dependent on the preci-sion of the pattern,the reason for which dimensionally stable materials such as glass and silicon are often selected,in spite of high cost.Polymers are thus increasingly used as a low-cost alternative,[7,8]however,their main drawback is the lack of dimensional stability[9,10]due to excessive levels of internal stresses.Polymerisation shrinkage and cool-down from the process tempera-ture are major sources of residual stress.[11,12]Combined with low stiffness, high coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE)[13]and surface tension driven viscous flow[14]these stresses lead to distortion and eventual decay of the nano-pattern.Approaches towards stress reduction include photo-polymerisation[15,16]with UV light,an extremely rapid crosslinking method that transforms liquid precursors into rigid solids within a few seconds.UV-polymerisa-tion in combination with NIL was investigated in earlier studies.[17,18]The process is carried out at room temperature and therefore thermal stresses which would result possible exothermic effects are usually negligible. Hyperbranched polymers(HBP)[19]were also introduced in micro-engineering applica-tions[20]due to their reduced polymerisation shrinkage and lower internal stress compared to standard resins,[21]which proved to be a key feature for the production of a variety of microstructures with high dimensional accuracy.[22]These materials are a low-cost alternative to dendrimers,[23]with a less perfectly branched structure but sameMacromol.Symp.2010,296,144–153DOI:10.1002/masy.201051022 144Laboratoire de Technologie des Composites et Polyme`res(LTC),Ecole Polytechnique Fe´de´rale de Lausanne(EPFL),1015Lausanne,SwitzerlandE-mail:yves.leterrier@epfl.chfavorable behavior in terms of low Newtonian viscosity at high molecular weight.[24]The introduction of a non-shrinking phase into the polymer matrix is a further route to reduce overall shrinkage.[25]Geiser et al.[26]have demonstrated a shrinkage reduction of26% during photo-polymerisation upon addition of20vol%nano-sized SiO2particles into an acrylated HBP matrix.[26]The composite approach is attractive because it also improves the mechanical properties in terms of hard-ness,stiffness,scratch resistance,and coeffi-cient of thermal expansion.[27–30]However, the huge increase in viscosity due to the presence of nano-sizedfillers often presents a challenge for processing.Moreover,solid particles with size comparable to nano-structures are likely to compromise the dimensional accuracy of these structures.This work introduces UV-curable HBP nanocomposites for rapid and cost-effective fabrication of stable nano-structured devices with very high precision.The relationship between composition,poly-merisation kinetics,shrinkage and shape fidelity of nano-gratings produced using low-pressure UV-molding were investi-gated.Attention was paid to the influence of the type of inorganicfiller and pressure on the dimensional accuracy of the grating structures.Materials and MethodsMaterialsThe monomer was based on a3rd generation hyperbranched polyether polyol,giving a29-functional hyperbranched polyether acrylate (Perstorp AB,Sweden).The photo-initiator was1-hydroxy-cyclohexyl-phenyl-ketone (Irgacure1184,Ciba Specialty Chemicals)at a concentration equal to1wt%.It showed good solubility in the acrylate monomer.Two nanofillers were studied, both made of amorphous silica.Highlink1 NanO G502(Clariant)is a suspension of 30wt%monodispersed SiO2in isopropa-nol.The average particle size according to the supplier is13nm,which corresponds to a specific surface area of about 230m2/g.X-ray disc centrifuge(BI-XDC, Brookhaven)measurements gave an aver-age particle size of23nm with a standard deviation of16nm.Aerosil1R7200 (Degussa)is a SiO2powder with a specific surface area of about150m2/g and a primary particle size of12nm.Aerosil particles were subjected to surface treat-ment with methacrylsilane in order to promote interphase properties.Composites containing up to25vol% SiO2in the acrylated HBP were prepared and their properties are reported in Table1. Details of sample preparation are given in an earlier article.[26]The composites containing Highlink were true nano-composites,where the inorganic phase was monodispersed in the polymer matrix. In contrast,the Aerosil powder could not be completely desagglomerated after ultra-sound treatment,resulting in aggregates with an average size of140nm.The dispersion state had a strong influence on the rheological behavior of the composites (Table1).UV Lamp and SpectrometerA UV lamp with a200W mercury bulb (OmniCure2000,Exfo,Canada)was used for all experiments.The light intensity was measured using a spectrometer(Sola-Check2000,Solatell,UK)over a range of 270–470nm.Table1.Properties of HBP nanocomposites with varying amounts of silica.Property Unit SiO20vol%5vol%20vol% Viscosity(Aerosil/Highlink)[26]PaÃs 4.67.3/6050/900’000 Glass transition temperature[26]8C999CTE(Highlink)10À6/8C11811484Water contact angle(Highlink)8457872 Macromol.Symp.2010,296,144–153145Nanoimprint Lithography (NIL)Figure 1sketches the nanoimprint litho-graphy tool that was designed and built for this study.It consists of a 8cm diameter cylindrical steel mold equipped with a UV-transparent 3cm thick quartz window.Pressure was applied using a pressure-controlled pneumatic movable stamp to which was attached the glass master.Alignment accuracy was better than 0.028.The master was a dry etched glass grating (Figure 2)with a period of 360Æ1nm and a depth of 12Æ1nm.This particular grating structure is used in wavelength interrogated optical sensors (WIOS)used for immuno-assay purposes as described in the work of Cottier et al.[31]The material to imprint was dispersed on the master and covered with a glass slide the surface of which was activated by plasma treatment during 30s with a high frequency generator (BD20V,Electro-technik pro-ducts Inc.)for better adhesion of the polymer material.Pressure was applied while the material was polymerized through the quartz window.Approximately12%of UV-light was absorbed through the glass carrier.The UV-intensities reported in the following were measured under the glass carrier,i.e.on the HBP surface.After polymerisation the pressure was released and the master was removed from the imprinted material attached to the glass carrier.No special surface treatment was needed to help demolding,due to the 258clearance angle of the glass grating.The whole process sequence lasted less than 3min.Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM)The topography of the gratings,both attached and detached from the glass carrier,was analyzed by AFM (Multimode II,Veeco)in contact mode using a tip with a spring constant of 0.06N/m.512scans were recorded over a length of 2m m (Figure 2b)from which an average profile,such as shown in Figure 2,was calculated.In order to quantify the influence of the processing parameters on the fidelity of the imprinted gratings,the step height as well as the top and bottom dimensions asindicatedFigure 1.Schematic drawing of the nanoimprint lithographytool.Figure 2.(a)AFM surface plot and (b)averaged profile of the glass master grating.The troughs in the corners of the master grating resulted from the dry etching step during the production process.The step height was measured between the dashed lines.Macromol.Symp.2010,296,144–153146in Figure 3were compared.Each dimension was averaged over 5repeating elements.Photo-RheologyReal-time stiffness build-up during photo-polymerisation of the HBP and HBP composites was measured on a strain-controlled rotational rheometer (ARES,Rheometric Scientific,2kFT transducer)equipped with a UV set-up as described in Schmidt et al.[32]Parallel plate geometry with diameter 8mm was used at room temperature and 10Hz.InterferometryReal-time polymerisation shrinkage was measured with a Michelson interferometer on a 100m m thick sample film as described in a former article.[26]Thermal Mechanical and Stress AnalysisThe coefficient of thermal expansion was measured with a thermo-mechanical analyzer (TMA 402,Netsch)using a heating and cooling rate of 58C/min.The thermal deformation of HBP and HBP composite films under a compression load of 1.3N was recorded.It was veryfied that no creep phenomena occurred.The Young’s modulus was measured with a dynamic mechanical analyzer (DMA Q800,TA Instruments)at 1Hz and a maximum elongational strain of 0.15%.The in-plane internal stress of HBP and HBP composite coatings was determined from the curvature of coated aluminum beams,and calculated according to the model of Inoue.[33]The beam-bendingset-up is described in detail in the work of Schmidt et al.[21]Contact Angle MeasurementsWater contact angles were measured using a contact angle meter (Digidrop,GBX)at room temperature,using deionized-grade water.ResultsFigure 4shows the averaged profiles of the photo-cured gratings for different UV-illumination times,UV-light intensities,pressures and filler fractions.It is evident that good replication fidelity was achieved whatever the process conditions.After only 3seconds of illumination,or using a low intensity of 5mW/cm 2,a stable grating structure was observed after lift-off of the master (Figure 4a,b).Even at the minimum pressure of 1bar the grating was imprinted with good quality (Figure 4c).The grating structure was also properly imprinted in the composite material up to the highest filler content (Figure 4d).In all cases the grating period was preserved,even when the gratings were removed from the glass carrier,and the ‘‘ears’’corresponding to the master troughs were present.Figure 5shows the top and bottom dimensions as well as the step height for the same conditions,and confirms that the period of the reproduced gratings differed by less than 2%from the period of the master under all conditions,i.e.the shapefidelityFigure 3.Dimensions of the master grating and nomenclature of the dimensions of the imprinted grating.Macromol.Symp.2010,296,144–153147was better than 98%.When looking at the measured grating dimensions,it is evident that during 10seconds the step height remained constant within experimental scatter and then decreased gradually (Figure 5a).The intensity did not influence the dimensions of the imprinted grating (Figure 5b).However,while the top and bottom dimensions correlated with the corresponding master dimensions,the step height was reduced by 4.3Æ1.3%with respect to the master step height.Pressure levels ranging from 1to 6bar were applied to HBP nanocomposites containing 5vol%SiO 2.For both types of composite (Highlink and Aerosil)the dimension of the bottom part was reduced,and that of the top part was expanded with respect to the corre-sponding dimensions on the master.This interesting result is examined in the follow-ing section.Moreover,the step height of the imprinted grating was 9.4%smaller than the master step height (Figure 5c).The bottom and top dimensions,as well as the step height,strongly depended on the amount of filler (Figure 5d).Similarly to the effect of pressure,the top part was expanding,while the bottom part and the step height were reduced.The clearance angle of the grating did not systematically change and only varied within 6%of the clearance angle of the master grating.The ‘‘ears’’on the grating edges became less sharp,but the surface finish of the gratings was not compromised by the presence of the silica.No difference was observed between Highlink and Aerosil composites.DiscussionIt is remarkable,that at a pressure as low as 1bar the grating structure was imprinted in nano-composites containing up to 25vol%silica,despite the high viscosity that these materials exhibit.The period of theHBPFigure 4.Averaged AFM profiles of HBP and HBP nanocomposite gratings.Individual profiles are offset for legibility.(a)HBP gratings as a function of illumination time.Intensity ¼25mW/cm 2,pressure ¼5bar.(b)HBP gratings as a function of UV-intensity.Time ¼600s,pressure ¼5bar.(c)HBP þ5vol%SiO 2(Highlink)gratings as a function of pressure.Intensity ¼60mW/cm 2,time ¼90s.(d)HBP composite gratings as a function of filler (Highlink)fraction.Intensity ¼60mW/cm 2,time ¼90s.Macromol.Symp.2010,296,144–153148nanocomposite gratings being equal to that of the glass master,this is a promising result for the production of polymer WIOS by nano-imprint lithography,because for good performance of the optical sensing devices,the period of the grating is the key parameter to control.However,shrinkage of the step height occurred especially at high filler loading,and a unexpected lateral expansion of the grating walls was observed.These two phenomena resulted from the dynamics of structure build-up during cure of the polymer confined in the grating structure,including gelation and internal stress.Figure 6synthesizes a NIL process including these two key events and is described in the following sections.GelationGelation being the transition between liquid and solid material,is an important parameter that determines the stability of the gratings.The gel-point was determined with photo-rheology from the crossover of storage and loss moduli,G 0and G 00,and was found to occur just below 3seconds for HBP at an intensity of 25mW/cm 2.At that point the double-bond conversion reached 15%[26]and the shear modulus was approxi-mately 1MPa (Figure 7),hence the stability of the imprinted HBP grating after only 3seconds of illumination (Figure 4a).The influence of gelation on step height shrink-age is analyzed in Figure 8.The linear shrinkage,calculated from the reduction of the step height with respect to the step height at 3seconds,was delayed in time by a factor of about 10,compared with the linear shrinkage determined by interferometry on flat HBP films.As polymerisation set in,the equilibrium volume of the HBP reduced (step 1to step 2in Figure 6).In the absence of external pressure,voids would have immediately developed in the pits of the master grating.However,under constant external pressure the viscous material con-tinued to fill the grating cavities (step 2in Figure 6).Only once the material had gelled,plastic flow was no longer possible and further polymerisation shrinkage led to the observed reduction of the stepheightFigure 5.HBP (a,b)and HBP composite (c,d)grating dimensions.Closed symbols:HBP or HBP/Highlink composites;open symbols:HBP/Aerosil composites;circular symbols:top dimension;triangular symbols:bottom dimension;square symbols:step height.The dashed lines represent the dimensions of the glass master as labeled in the plot.(a)HBP grating dimensions as a function of illumination time.Intensity ¼25mW/cm 2,pressure ¼5bar.(b)HBP grating dimensions as a function of UV-intensity.Time ¼600s,pressure ¼5bar.(c)HBP þ5vol%SiO 2grating dimensions as a function of pressure.Intensity ¼60mW/cm 2,time ¼90s.(d)HBP composite grating dimensions as a function of filler fraction.Intensity ¼60mW/cm 2,time ¼90s.Macromol.Symp.2010,296,144–153149(step 3in Figure 6).While the gel-point determined using photo-rheology was around 3seconds,gelation determined by kinetic analysis occurred at 5seconds [26]for the current system.The latter result corresponds well with the moment after which the step height started shrinking.The reason why the intensity did not influence the dimensions of the imprinted gratings,is because the maximum conver-sion is independent of the UV-light inten-sity.[26]Several studies confirmed that shrinkage is related to conversion for non-vitrifying systems.[34–36]The glass tran-sition temperature T g being equal to 98C [26]for the HBP and the composites indepen-dent of composition,the present systems indeed did not vitrify.The average shrink-age determined from the reduction in step height of the polymer grating with respect to the master step height (4.3Æ1.3%)wasequal within experimental scatter to the linear shrinkage measured on flat films (4.6Æ0.5%).Internal StressA surprising result was the inversion of the bottom and top dimensions which was evident when the pressure,or the filler fraction,were increased (Figure 5c,d).The sidewalls of the master were tilted by an angle of approximately 258,the lateral dimensions of the grating were therefore a function of the step height,which in fact depended on the amount of silica in the composite.As an example,the step height of the imprinted grating was reduced by 12%with respect to the master grating upon addition of 25vol%SiO 2.ThiswouldFigure 6.Schematic drawing the grating formation process duringNIL.Figure 7.Shear modulus of HBP as a function of time under different UV-light intensities (mW/cm 2,asindicated).Figure 8.Linear polymerisation shrinkage as a function of illumination time and UV-intensity (mW/cm 2,as indi-cated)measured on HBP film (solid line)compared to the shrinkage as determined from the reduction in grating step height (squares and dotted line).Macromol.Symp.2010,296,144–153150have increased the top part by 6nm,however,the real increase was 49nm.The fact that the silica reduced the step height (Figure 5d)was surprising as well,since it had been shown that the presence of an inorganic filler reduced the overall polymerisation shrinkage.[26]The deviation of the top and bottom dimensions of the imprinted grating from the master dimen-sions was due to internal stress effects.Polymerisation shrinkage and simultaneous stiffness build-up are the reason for internal stress build-up in polymer materials.Even though the presence of silica reduced the amount of polymerisation shrinkage,[26]the internal stress increased linearly with the filler fraction,due to the increased Young’s modulus of the composites (Figure 9).Highlink and Aerosil composites showed the same level of internal stress,despite the difference in Young’s modulus resulting from difference in particle disper-sion.In fact,the reduced stiffness of the Aerosil composites was counteracted by the increased polymerisation shrinkage.[26]The internal stress measurements as shown in Figure 9were done on flat films that were constrained in two dimensions by the substrate,i.e.under plane stress conditions.In the case of gratings the constrains were in three dimensions,i.e.under hydrostatic conditions,hence higher stress levels [37,38]especially when the polymer was processedabove its ultimate T g .After lift-off of the master the stress relaxation led to the observed deformation of the grating (step 4in Figure 6).Nanoparticles increased the stress within the grating structures,however,they did not compromise the surface quality,the reason of which was found to be a resin rich layer a the surface of the device (Figure 10).Deformation of the composite material under pressure led to exudation of the HBP phase,as often observed in case of compression molding of reinforced poly-mers in narrow geometries.[39]To summarize,the grating formation process during NIL started with loading the liquid precursor on the glass master (step 1in Figure 6).Upon application of pressure the materials filled out the master grating cavities.At this stage exudation of the polymer took place,thus ensuring a good surface quality.As polymerisation was initiated,shrinkage occurred in the entire volume of the precursor,and the viscous material continued to fill the grating cavities under the constand applied pressure (step 2in Figure 6).After gelation plastic flow was no longer possible and further polymerisa-tion shrinkage led to reduction of the step height and internal stress started to build up (step 3in Figure 6).After cure completion and release of the pressure the replicated grating was demolded and internal stresses could relax,resulting in the observed deformation of the grating structure (step 4in Figure 6).Considering that small changes in inter-nal stress have a considerable influence on the geometry of a nano-pattern,the present low-stress HBP nanocomposites show immense advantage over commercial UV-curable acrylates,where the stress level goes up to 16MPa.[40,41]In the standard photo-resists SU-8stresses are around 20MPa [42]before and up to 75MPa [43]after post-exposure bake.A further advantage for the production of stable nano-patterns is the reduced CTE (Table 1)for better thermal stability.Moreover,the contact angle increased from 458for the pure HBP to 738for the composite containing 20vol%Figure 9.Internal stress and Young’s modulus of HBP nano-composites as a function of filler fraction and poly-merized with UV-intensity equal to 50mW/cm 2.Closed symbols:Highlink composites.Open symbols:Aerosil composites.Macromol.Symp.2010,296,144–153151Highlink (Table 1),indicating that the composite was hydrophobic while the HBP was rather hydrophilic.The hydro-phobicity of the Highlink composites was most likely due to the surface treatment of the silica particles,the nature of which was not known.The HBP and HBP nanocomposites enabled nanoscale gratings with an excep-tional fidelity to be replicated using a low pressure NIL method and very short process time.Since these patterns were obtained for a broad range of process conditions and of compositions,the present results should be useful to produce a variety of nano-sized patterns for a vast range of device applications.ConclusionNano-sized gratings were produced from UV-curable acrylated HBP nano-composites with up to 25vol%silica by nanoimprint lithography in rapid low-pressure process using a glass master.A pressure as low as 1bar and short process time of 3seconds were sufficient to imprint a stable grating into the high viscosity composite material with a shape fidelity better than 98%.The period of the composite gratings was equal to the one of the master,but the step height depended on the time at gelation,and the lateral dimensions depended on the level of internal stress.Internal stress increased with the amount of silica,independent of thedispersion state.Pressure and UV-light intensity did not influence the grating dimen-sions provided that the maximum acrylate conversion was achieved.The surface quality of the grating was not compromised by the presence of the silica,due to the exudation of HBP resin rich surface layer.Acknowledgements:The authors gratefully ac-knowledge 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