Step and Flash Imprint Lithography Modeling and Process Development

Step and Flash Imprint Lithography (SFIL) is a low pressure, room temperature process capable of faithfully reproducing nanometer scale features. By eliminating expensive imaging optics, SFIL is able to realize this pattern transfer at low cost. Previous work has described the SFIL process in detail including a general process description, etch transfer processes, initial defect studies, polymerization kinetics, and device demonstrations. This paper documents photopolymerization induced shrinkage of the etch barrier and its effect on pattern fidelity and line profile. Results from finite element and mesoscale models are compared to imprinted etch barriers of varying shrinkage.