SCIL nanoimprint solutions; high volume soft NIL for wafer scale sub-10nm resolution

6^th International Conference and Exhibition on Biosensors & Bioelectronics

September 22-23, 2016 Phoenix, USA

R J Voorkamp, M A Verschuuren and R Van Brakel

Royal Philips, Netherlands

Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Biosens Bioelectron

Abstract :

Nanoimprint Lithography (NIL) is a promising technology for the cost effective fabrication of sub-micron- and nanopatterns on a variety of substrates. In NIL, distinction is made between hard and soft stamps. Real world conditions such as substrate bow and particle contaminants complicate the use of hard stamps, reducing stamp lifetime and yield. Soft stamps have the ablility to conform to the substrate and are less sensitive to particles but are too soft to support sub-micron features. Substrate Conformal Imprint Lithography (SCIL) developed by Philips solves the limitations of softstamp based NIL techniques and allows low pressure wafer scale (up to 200mm) conformal contact and sub-10nm resolution. This is done by using a tri-layer composite stamp with a modified silicone rubber which is stiff enough to prevent collapse of nano-patterns, but still soft to allow conformal contact on wafer scales without high pressure. The combination of a composite stamp and the SCIL method to apply the stamp on a substrate leads to the possibility to achieve sub-10nm structures and highly accurate overlay alignment. Additionally, a rubber stamp allows the use of inorganic sol-gel chemistry which makes it possible to directly pattern thermal and (UV) light stable silicon-oxide, which is an excellent hard mask for further processing, or can be used directly as a robust material in optical or bio-compatible (glass) in e.g. assay, cell-growth, or other biological applications. For successful implementation of a new patterning technology such as SCIL one need to take a solution approach, meaning that the equipment, material and process interactions need to be carefully aligned and optimized. Also, to optimize the cost of ownership the whole process flow needs to be considered, not only the lithography step. In our paper, we will present the approach chosen by SCIL Nanoimprint Solutions to bring high volume manufacturing solutions to the market and show its relevance for biosensor applications.

Biography :

Email: rob.voorkamp@philips.com