Study of nanopattern forming with chemical coatings for silicon-based stamp in nanoimprint process

The aim of this study is to present a silane molecule self-assembled monolayer (octadecyltrimethoxysilane (CH₃(CH₂)₁₇Si(OCH₃)₃): OTS-SAM) as anti-adhesive coatings to improve of silicon-based stamps for the developed nanoimprint lithography (NIL). In this work, the nanostructures of stamps are fabricated by electron-beam lithography (EBL). The diameters of period pillar nanopatterns on the silicon-based stamps are 150 nm and 200 nm, receptively. The influence of silicon-based stamp substrate can be investigated by contact angle measurement after modifying the chemical coating treatment for imprinted thin polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) films. To control the forming of fabricated nanopatterns, the simulation can be done to obtain the effects of patterning distortion during this NIL process. In addition, the study employs atomic force microscopy (AFM) to obtain a simultaneous observation for the morphologies of silicon-based and imprinted PMMA polymer nanostructures interface. The results indicate an over 95% improvement for silicon-based nanopatterns with the anti-adhesive properties in NIL process.