NIL—a low-cost and high-throughput MEMS fabrication method compatible with IC manufacturing technology

Current MEMS fabrication technology cannot satisfy the simultaneous needs of 3D structure fabrication and compatibility with IC manufacturing technology, which have impeded the development of MEMS industrialization to a certain extent. Nanoimprint lithography (NIL) provides a new MEMS fabrication method that is compatible with IC manufacturing technology and bears high throughput and low cost. This paper presents an in-house prototype NIL tool with a high precision automatic alignment system based on moiré fringe signals. Some printing results of nanostructures or micro-devices using the prototype are presented, and hot embossing lithography, one typical NIL technology is depicted in detail by taking microlens array fabrication as an example. High fidelity and fine uniformity demonstrate NIL will be a new method to fabricate 3D structures of MEMS.