By micro resist technology GmbH
MRT focused on the development of such new fluorinated additives for use in thermal NIL resist formulations. Their performance was evaluated by thin film and imprint studies. MRT prepared various thin NIL resist films and imprints (film thicknesses of 200 nm, 100 nm and sub-100 nm) using reference stamps featuring different types of micro- and nanostructures for different thermal and photo-curable NIL resists. The performed SThM measurements provided valuable information − particularly in terms of the evaluation of the apparent glass transition temperatures (T g’s) of the different films finally prepared with different NIL resist versions. The performed work strongly expanded MRTs knowledge on structure-property-relationships of additives, so that new design rules regarding the composition and the architecture of fluorinated additives could be derived and established. Generally, the newly developed technology of fluorinated additives admixed to NIL resist formulations greatly improves the imprint performance of the NIL resists leading thus to a drastically lower defectivity rate which is a key metric for most industrial high-volume fabrication processes. These results were the basis for acquiring and participating in a pilot line project in which the material production will be scaled up from lab scale to volumes relevant for industrial applications.
