Reversal imprinting by transferring polymer from mold to substrate

A reversal imprinting technique was developed in this study. A polymer layer was first spin coated on a patterned hard mold, and then transferred to a substrate under an elevated temperature and pressure. The reversal imprinting method offers an advantage over conventional nanoimprinting by allowing imprinting onto substrates that cannot be easily spin coated, such as flexible polymer substrates. Another unique feature of reversal imprinting is that three different pattern-transfer modes can be achieved by controlling the degree of surface planarization of the mold after spin coating the polymer resist as well as the imprinting temperature. ‘‘Embossing’’ occurs at temperatures well above the glass transition temperature (Tg) of a polymer; ‘‘inking’’ occurs at temperatures around Tg with nonplanarized polymer coating surface on the mold; and ‘‘whole-layer transfer’’ occurs at temperatures around Tg but with a somewhat planarized surface. These three imprinting modes have been quantitatively correlated with the surface planarization of the mold after polymer coating and the imprinting temperature. © 2002 American Vacuum Society. @DOI: 10.1116/1.1523404#