纳米压印光刻模板

Porous nano-imprint lithography templates may include  pores, channels, or porous layers arranged to allow evacua  tion of gas trapped between a nano-imprint lithography tem  plate and substrate. The pores or channels may be formed by  etch or other processes. Gaskets may be formed on an nano  imprint lithography template to restrict flow of polymerizable material during nano-imprint lithography processes.

Nano-fabrication includes the fabrication of very small  structures that have features on the order of 100 nanometers  or Smaller. One application in which nano-fabrication has had  a sizeable impact is in the processing of integrated circuits.  The semiconductor processing industry continues to strive for  larger production yields while increasing the circuits per unit  area formed on a substrate; therefore nano-fabrication  becomes increasingly important. Nano-fabrication provides  greater process control while allowing continued reduction of  the minimum feature dimensions of the structures formed.  Other areas of development in which nano-fabrication has  been employed include biotechnology, optical technology,  mechanical systems, and the like.

An imprint lithography technique disclosed in each of the  aforementioned U.S. patent publications and patent includes  formation of a relief pattern in a polymerizable layer, and  transferring a pattern corresponding to the relief pattern into  an underlying Substrate. The Substrate may be coupled to a  motion stage to obtain a desired positioning to facilitate the  patterning process. The patterning process uses a template  spaced apart from the Substrate and a formable liquid applied  between the template and the substrate. The formable liquid is  Solidified to form a rigid layer that has a pattern conforming to  a shape of the surface of the template that contacts the form  able liquid. After solidification, the template is separated  from the rigid layer such that the template and the substrate  are spaced apart. The substrate and the solidified layer are  then subjected to additional processes to transfer a relief  image into the Substrate that corresponds to the pattern in the  solidified layer.

In some implementations, the electromagnetic radiation  includes laser irradiation with a pulse length of less than about  100 nanoseconds. The covered recesses may define openings  with a dimension less than about 10 nm. In certain cases, oxidizing includes heating.

Fig1

In some implementations, the side walls of the recesses  may be protected before a volume of the recesses is adjusted.  In certain cases, adjusting a Volume of the recesses may include isotropically etching a bottom of the recesses to  enlarge a Volume of the recesses.

Gas escape and dissolution rates may limit the rate at which  the polymerizable material is able to form a continuous layer  on the Substrate (or imprinting stack) or the rate at which the  polymerizable material is able to fill template features after  the template contacts the polymerizable material, thereby limiting throughput in nano-imprint processes. For example,  a substrate or a template may be substantially impermeable to  a gas trapped between the Substrate and the template. In some  cases, a polymeric layer adhered to the Substrate or the tem  plate may become saturated with gas, Such that gas between  the imprinting Stack and the template is Substantially unable  to enter the Saturated polymeric layer, and remains trapped  between the Substrate and the Substrate or imprinting stack.  Gas that remains trapped between the substrate or the  imprinting stack and the template may cause filling defects in  the patterned layer.

In some cases, the Substrate/imprinting Stack or template  may include a porous material defining a multiplicity of pores  with an average pore size and pore density or relative porosity  selected to facilitate diffusion of a gas into the substrate/  imprinting stack or the template, respectively. In certain  cases, the Substrate/imprinting stack or template may include  one or more layers or regions of a porous material designed to  facilitate transport of gases trapped between the Substrate/  imprinting stack and the template in a direction away from the  polymerizable material between the substrate/imprinting  stack and Substrate and toward the Substrate/imprinting stack  or the template, respectively.