Finite element analysis of low temperature thermal nanoimprint lithography using a viscoelastic model

Nanoimprint lithography (NIL) is an emerging technology that enables cost-effective and high-throughput nanofabrication. Nevertheless, there are some disadvantages to this method, especially for thermal NIL. A major disadvantage of thermal NIL is the thermal cycle, which requires a significant amount of processing time and limits the throughput. One method to overcome this disadvantage is to reduce the processing temperature. Accordingly, it is necessary to determine the effects on the processing parameters for thermal NIL at reduced temperatures and to optimize the parameters. This requires a clear understanding of the behavior of the polymer material during the thermal NIL process. This work focuses on a temperature range of Tg < T < Tg + 40 °C, in which the polymer displays a semi-molten state behavior; this temperature range is lower than conventionally used for thermal NIL. To understand how the processing conditions of temperature, pressure, pattern density, and initial thickness of the polymer resist are related to the quality of a nanoimprinted pattern, simulations of thin polymer films squeezing into nanocavities during thermal NIL were performed using a two-dimensional viscoelastic finite element analysis taking into account stress relaxation behaviors.