Electromagnetic force-assisted imprint technology for fabrication of submicron-structure

This paper reports a novel imprint technique for fabrication of polymeric submicron-scale structures. In use of electromagnetic force to press the magnetic stamp written with submicron-scale structures into a UV-curable resist on the substrate, the liquid photopolymer can be patterned at room temperature.In this study, an electromagnetic force assisted imprinting facility with UV exposure capacity has been designed, constructed and tested. Under the proper processing conditions, the polymeric submicron-scale structure with feature size of 500 nm across a 150 mm2 area can be successfully fabricated. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force (AFM) observations confirm that the submicron-scale polymer structures are produced without defects or distortion and with good pattern fidelity over a large area. This technique shows the potential for efficient fabrication of submicron-scale structures at room temperature and low pressure on large substrates with high productivity at low cost.