Nanoimprint lithography
Researcher: Alia Colniță
Keywords: nanoimprint lithography, micro/nanostructured surfaces, micro/nanoelectronics, micro/nano counterfeiting elements
Researcher: Alia Colniță
Description
Nanoimprint Lithography (NIL – Nanoimprint Lithography) is a modern, high-resolution technique with high-throughput for the fabrication of high quality and orderedmicro/nanostructured surfaces down to 10 nm in size.
To fabricate various micro/nanostructured patterns on the surfaces, customized molds are used, which have to be designed in advance and usually are made out of rigid materials (e.g. silicon or chromium).
The micro/nanopatterns fabricated by NIL can be imprinted on rigid substrates (silicon, glass) or flexible substrates (such as plexiglas, PMMA or polycarbonate).
The micro/nanostructures imprinting process can be done by a thermal process or by irradiation with ultraviolet (UV) light depending on the photosensitivity of the working surface.
Applications
Areas of application
Systems:
- Solar cells for photoactive layer fabrication, polarization control, color and information storage on hard disks.
- Biological applications including sensing, nanofluidic devices for DNA stretching or tissue engineering.
- Advanced electronic circuits integrated in smart devices with low power consumption thanks to the possibility of micro/nanoimprinting of sub 10 nm patterns on large areas.
- Anticounterfeiting elements for the safety, authenticity and traceability of original products such as pharmaceuticals, automotive components/parts, food etc.
Industries: electronic circuit industry, semiconductor systems industry, energy industry, pharmaceutical and medical industry.
Infrastructure
The NIL Eitre® 3 system (Obducat, Sweden) is located in the ISO-5 class 100 clean room from the Department of Molecular and Biomolecular Physics and allows the fabrication of micro/nanostructures on surfaces over a maximum area of 77 mm. It is also capable of thermal imprinting, UV irradiation or simultaneous imprinting (thermal and UV irradiation). The imprinting pressure results from air compression and reaches a maximum of 70 bar. The printing temperature can reach up to 200°C.
The UV module consists of a mercury lamp emitting in the standard wavelength range (250 nm÷400 nm).
Advantages
Miniaturization of assemblies and sub-assemblies down to 10 nm compared to conventional technologies
Outstanding detail accuracy
Versatility of designs and materials
Simplicity of working protocol
Fast technique for replication of micro/nanostructured patterns on surfaces down to 8 cm
Estimated costs
The price for the fabrication of customized micro/nanostructured surfaces by NIL will include the cost of making the mould, the substrate used, the time of use of the machine and the personnel costs .
Furthermore, the total costs can also be assessed according to the complexity of the pattern on the mold and the number of replicas made with the ordered mold.