Nano-pattern molding technique using photocurable silicone elastomer

Heat-curable silicone elastomer was widely used as a material for micro/nano structure replication. However, deformation under the thermal residual stress imposed by heat curing substantially reduces their replication accuracy, which is a critical challenge for nanostructures. In this study, a photo-curable silicone elastomer was evaluated as a suitable material for nanostructure replication. The usability of the material was demonstrated by verification of optical and mechanical characteristics, and nanostructure replication accuracy. As the result, the cured elastomer was shown to be superior to existing heat-curable silicone elastomers to have mechanical strength, and was shown as same as in optical property. Most importantly, the photo-curable elastomer provided extremely high replication accuracy due to its thermal shrinkage less than 0.02%, compared to 2.91% in the heat-curable elastomer.