Nanoimprint technology was originally developed about 25 years ago as a fine-patterning technology for semiconductors. From the outset, it attracted attention as a technology capable of resolution at the 10 nm level; however, in recent years, key applications have included optical sensors for mobile devices, autonomous driving, robotics, and security, as well as light guide plates for AR (augmented reality) glasses, and it has been re-evaluated for forming structures such as DOE and MLA at the several-hundred-nanometer to several-micrometer level. The NGS application discussed here is not an optical component; rather, this section explains the application of nanoimprint technology as a mass-production method for manufacturing, in high volume, substrates with fine hole structures in the readout section of DNA testing chips.
