Eva-Lena Sarwe

Improving stamps for 10 nm level wafer scale nanoimprint lithography

The smaller the features on the stamp the more important are the interactions between stamp and polymer layer. A stamp rich in small structures will effectively show a surface area enlargement, which generally leads to adhesion of the polymer to the stamp. This makes a subsequent imprint impossible without troublesome and time-consuming cleaning. The anti-adhesion properties of Si- or SiO2-based stamps can be improved by binding fluorinated silanes covalently to the surface. In this paper, we demonstrate that the deposition procedure as well as the environment during deposition are important with respect to the quality and performance of the molecular layer

Large scale nanolithography using nanoimprint lithography

Nanoimprint lithography is a promising technique for fabrication of nanometer-sized structures with an eventual throughput capacity similar to UV-lithography based production of integrated circuits. In this article we address the possibility for wafer scale nanoimprint lithography, and the results presented here are all obtained from 2 in. sized substrate and stamp wafers. Our nanoimprint lithography equipment is described and some of its characteristics are discussed. These include ultrafast imprint cycle times of less than 2 min, good temperature monitoring, and control possibility of the substrate temperature. We show complete results after imprint, removal of remaining resist, and liftoff for 2 in. wafers. Furthermore, in this article the relation between polymer sticking to the stamp applied pressure, stamp depth, etc. is studied in detail.

Fabrication of Si-based nanoimprint stamps with sub-20 nm features

We present two alternative methods for fabrication of nanoimprint lithography stamps in SiO2 with sub-20 nm features: (a) optimized electron beam lithography (EBL) and lift-off patterning of a 15-nm thick Cr mask, and (b) aerosol deposition of W particles in the 20-nm size range. In both cases, the pattern transfer into SiO2 was performed using reactive ion etching (RIE) with CHF3 as etch gas. In the first approach, we used a double layer resist system (PMMA/ZEP 520A7 positive resists) for the EBL exposure. Resist thickness, exposure dose and development time were optimized to obtain 15-20 nm features after Cr lift-off. In the second approach, we used size selected W aerosol particles as etch masks during etching of SiO2. Both methods of stamp fabrication are compared and discussed

Nanoimprint- and UV-lithography: Mix&Match process for fabrication of interdigitated nanobiosensors

A complete nanobiosensor structure consisting of a 200 @mm x 200 @mm area containing 100 nm sized interdigitated nanoelectrodes with varied interelectrode distances has been fabricated using nanoimprint lithography (NIL) in combination with UV-lithography. The complete structure has been characterized with admittance spectroscopy. In the paper are discussed the needs and key issues for nanosensors and the capability offered by using NIL for fabrication of such sensors.

Lift-off process for nanoimprint lithography

We report a novel a lift-off method for nanoimprint lithography. This is a bi-layer method, using a polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) on lift-off layer (LOL) resist scheme. For the imprint step, direct evidence for good pattern transfer down to 20 nm is shown. Oxygen plasma ashing is required to remove residual PMMA. A liquid solvent, MF 319, is used to transfer the pattern down to the silicon. The LOL is dissolved isotropically while the PMMA is unaffected. Ashing time can kept to a minimum through the wet etch method. This reduces the line widening effect. After metal evaporation a two-step lift-off process prevents metal flakes from adhering to the surface electrostatically. At first warm acetone breakes apart the metal layer and dissolves the PMMA, then warm Remover S-1165 removes the LOL and remaining metal. Structures of lines down to 50 mn and dots with a diameter of sub 20 nm are presented.

Fabrication and mechanical characterization of ultrashort nanocantilevers

Three aspects on nanocantilevers are presented in this letter. First, we present the fabrication process of 2 μm long freestanding chromium cantilevers with width 150 nm, and thickness 50 nm. Second, a measurement scheme using an atomic force microscope operating in contact mode was employed to study the mechanical properties along the length of the cantilevers. Third, we have investigated extremely large deflections on these nanoscale cantilevers demonstrating their high ductility. The spring constants calculated from the experimental data are smaller than expected from classical mechanics calculations, but show good agreement with previously reported calculations for largely deflected beams.

Fluorescence microscopy for quality control in nanoimprint lithography

Fluorescence microscopy is introduced as a low cost quality control process for nanoimprint lithography. To depict imprinted structures down to 1 µm lateral size and to detect residues down to 100 nm lateral size, the standard printable polymer mr-I8000 is labelled with less than 0.1 wt.% fluorescent dye. Three different types of stamps are used to determine the dependence of the shape and size of stamp features in a series of imprints. The quality of a stamp is given by the sticking polymer residues per unit area. Fluorescence light images as well as visible light images are analysed. Changes in the area of the stamp covered with polymer as a function of the number of imprints is summarised in a statistical process chart. Adhesion was artificially induced in order to observe self cleaning of virgin stamps. They were detected and monitored, suggesting that this method is a suitable technique for quality control and that it could be easily adapted to the nanoimprint process.

Annealing behaviour of foreign atom incorporated Co-silicides formed by MEVVA implantation into SiO2/Si and Si3N4/Si structures

Abstract Si 3 N 4 / Si (1 0 0), SiO 2 / Si (1 0 0) and SiO 2 / Si (1 1 1) wafers were implanted by keV Co ions under technical conditions to form thin silicide surface films. A metal vapour vacuum arc (MEVVA) source was employed to produce a high fluence of Co ions that was just sufficient to remove the oxide/nitride overlayer by sputter erosion. This high-fluence implantation under technical vacuum introduces foreign atoms into the implanted layer. The behaviour of these impurities following ∼900°C heat treatment in a N2 atmosphere has been studied. Elemental redistributions, crystal recovery, phase formation and electric properties were analysed. The results show that the annealing leads to an increase in crystal ordering within the implanted layer and stable phase formation, as indicated by a reduction in the channeling signal and a decrease in electrical resistivity. In the case of nitride-coated samples, the heat treatment leads to a reduction in the residual carbon and nitrogen in the samples, while the oxygen content is largely unchanged. In contrast, a remarkable increase in the carbon and especially the oxygen contents is observed in the case of the samples with oxide overlayers, and the Co shows a tendency to spread to greater depths.

Nanoimprint technology for fabrication of three-terminal ballistic junction devices in GaInAs/InP

We present processing technology based on nanoimprint lithography (NIL) and wet etching for fabrication of GaInAs/InP three-terminal ballistic junction (TBJ) devices. To transfer sub-100 nm features into a high-mobility InP-based 2DEG material, we used SiO2/Si stamps made with electron beam lithography and reactive ion etching. After the NIL, the resist residues are removed in oxygen plasma followed by wet etching of GaInAs/InP to define the TBJ-structures. Fabricated TBJ-devices are characterized using scanning electron microscopy and electron transport measurements. Highly non-linear electrical characteristics of the TBJ structures are demonstrated and compared with E-beam defined devices.

Nanoimprint - a tool for realizing nano-bio research

In this paper, we present a status report on how implementation of nanoimprint lithography has advanced our research. Contact guidance nerve growth experiments have so far primarily been done on micrometer-structured surfaces. We have made a stamp with 17 areas of different, submicron, line width and spacing covering a total 2.6 mm/spl times/0.45 mm. This has been imprinted, in PMMA, and consequently used in experiments to investigate how axonal outgrowth is affected by the nanopatterns. Protein interactions with nanostructured surfaces are also studied in a system exploring and controlling biomolecular motors, i.e., the muscle motor proteins actin and myosin.