Abstract :
Summary form only given. Since the proposal of nanoimprint lithography (NIL) as a low-cost high-throughput sub-10-nm manufacturing method in 1995, the field has been growing rapidly in research, applications and commercialization in the past 12 years. The talk will first address some advances in nanoimprint technology, tools, applications and commercialization, particularly, (a) NIL progresses in minimum feature size (6 nm half-pitch), printing areas (over 50 in-sq), alignment (sub-20 nm), pattern shapes (2D and 3D), materials and masks, (b) NIL applications in different disciplines, such as nanoscale electronics, photonics, displays, data storage, biotech, chemical synthesis and advanced materials, and (c) commercialization of NIL technologies at Nanonex - a NIL solution company which have provided NIL tools, resists, masks, and processes to over hundred customers. The talk will conclude that the success of NIL in its first 12 years is spectacular, yet it is still just a beginning! Second, the talk will discuss some innovative technologies developed recently in nanopatterning, in particularly, self-perfection methods that can remove the fabricated defects (e.g. edge roughness and other imperfection in pattern shape) caused by intrinsic statistical nature of a fabrication process, which has been a major obstacle in nanofabrication. The new method also can reduce line-width and increase line-height.
