Nanoimprint template and manufacturing method thereof

Abstract

The invention discloses a nanoimprint template and a manufacturing method thereof, and belongs to the technical field of nanoimprint template manufacturing, the manufacturing method comprises the steps that a small template, an exposure film and a positioning film are manufactured, the exposure film is a thin plate composed of a light-proof area and a light-transmitting area, the edge of the exposure film is provided with a dot array which is complementary left and right and is complementary up and down, and the dot array is arranged in the light-proof area and the light-transmitting area; the density of the lattice points in the lattice point array is gradually reduced from the light-proof area to the light-transmitting area, and the light-transmitting state and the background state of any two lattice points in an axial symmetry state are opposite; manufacturing a first splicing structure; and carrying out transfer printing on the lattice points on the right side of the first splicing structure again to obtain the traceless nanoimprint template. Through the design of the dot array on the exposure film, the edge patterns are randomly cured, the edge patterns of the two transfer structures are complementary, and splicing seam traces are weakened.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to a nanoimprint template and a manufacturing method thereof, and belongs to the technical field of nanoimprint template manufacturing. BACKGROUND

[0002] Nanoimprint is a micro-nano structure replication and transfer technology, which has low cost and high yield, and has been widely used in fields such as holographic packaging, semiconductors, displays, etc. Among them, the mold pressing technology such as roll-to-roll and roll-to-plate has been applied to the field of industrial mass production. The key to mold pressing is the preparation of large-format nanoimprint templates, and currently UV stitching technology is often used to replicate and splice small templates into large formats one by one. As disclosed in CN103317825A and CN106814576A, UV glue is added between the structure surface of the small template and the large-format transparent substrate, flattened, and the non-structure area is shielded by using exposure film, so that the UV glue at the structure pattern is cured, and after the film is removed, the uncured UV glue is wiped off with ethanol, and the small template is moved to the adjacent positioning point and the operation is repeated. Among them, the exposure film is similar to a mask plate, and the opaque black paint is coated on the surface of the transparent substrate, and only the structure pattern area is transparent.

[0003] In order to reduce the splicing error and reduce the splicing mark, an overlapping area is generally formed at the splicing position (as shown in FIG. 1). Figure 1 However, due to the problems such as residual glue at the edge of the transferred pattern and light leakage at the edge of the exposure film, there is a height difference at the splicing position, and obvious splicing marks are generated, which not only affects the visual beauty, but also has a certain impact on the performance of the product. SUMMARY

[0004] The present application aims to provide a nanoimprint template and a manufacturing method thereof, which solves the problem of obvious splicing marks in the prior art when manufacturing a nanoimprint template.

[0005] To achieve the above purpose, the present application is realized by the following technical scheme: In a first aspect, the present application provides a nanoimprint template manufacturing method, comprising: manufacturing small templates with multiple positioning points; manufacturing exposure film and positioning film corresponding to the size of the pattern of the small template and the position of the positioning point, the exposure film is a thin plate composed of opaque areas and transparent areas, the edges of the exposure film are provided with left-right complementary and top-bottom complementary dot arrays, the density of the dots in the dot array decreases from the opaque area to the transparent area, and the transparent state and the background state of any two dots in the axial symmetric state are opposite, the transparent state is transparent or opaque, and the background state is transparent background or opaque background; Fixing the small template with the structural pattern facing up to the next set of positioning points on the positioning film, dropping glue between the substrate and the small template, pressing flat, fixing the exposed film to the substrate according to the positioning points, keeping the left side dots of the exposed film aligned with the right side dots of the first spliced structure, curing, removing the small template, and obtaining the traceless nanoimprint template. Fixing the small template with the structural pattern facing up to the next set of positioning points on the positioning film, dropping glue between the substrate and the small template, pressing flat, fixing the exposed film to the substrate according to the positioning points, keeping the left side dots of the exposed film aligned with the right side dots of the first spliced structure, curing, removing the small template, and obtaining the traceless nanoimprint template.

[0006] Further, the method for manufacturing the small template with the plurality of positioning points comprises: Manufacturing a photoresist template with a structural pattern, wherein edges of the structural pattern are provided with a plurality of positioning points. Dropping glue between the photoresist template and the substrate, pressing flat, removing the photoresist template after curing, and post-curing to obtain the small template with the structural pattern.

[0007] Further, the edges of the structural pattern are provided with 3-4 positioning points.

[0008] Further, the substrate is transparent PET.

[0009] Further, the glue is UV glue.

[0010] Further, the curing comprises: irradiating for 10-20 seconds by using a contact printer. The post-curing comprises: irradiating for 9-11 minutes by using a contact printer.

[0011] Further, the contact printer comprises an iodine gallium lamp contact printer or a UV-LED lamp.

[0012] Further, after the curing is completed, the method further comprises a process of erasing the uncured glue.

[0013] Further, the width of the dot array is 0.5-1 mm, and the dot is a circular dot with a diameter of 0.1-0.5 mm.

[0014] In a second aspect, the present application provides a nanoimprint template, which is manufactured by using the manufacturing method in any one of the first aspect.

[0015] Compared with the prior art, the present application has the following beneficial effects: The application provides a nano-imprint template and a manufacturing method thereof. The nano-imprint template is manufactured by setting a dot array at the edge of an exposure film, the density of the dots in the dot array decreases from the non-transparent area to the transparent area, and the transparent state and the background state of any two dots in the axial symmetric state are opposite, the transparent state is transparent or non-transparent, the background state is transparent background or non-transparent background, the structure edge patterns obtained by two times of transfer are complementary, for example, the left side is transparent background and non-transparent dots, and the right side is non-transparent background and transparent dots, and the structure edge patterns obtained by transfer are randomly solidified due to the random distribution of the dots in the dot array, the above method weakens the splicing marks, and seamless nano-imprint template manufacturing is realized. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0016] Figure 1 is a structure schematic diagram of a nano-imprint template manufactured by using an exposure film and UV splicing technology in the prior art; Figure 2 is a structure schematic diagram of a small template provided by the embodiment; Figure 3 is a structure schematic diagram of an exposure film provided by the embodiment and provided with a dot array at the edge; Figure 4 is a structure schematic diagram of the small template after being copied by using the exposure film provided by the embodiment; Figure 5 is a structure schematic diagram of the exposure film after one-time splicing provided by the embodiment; Figure 6 is a structure schematic diagram of the nano-imprint template finally manufactured provided by the embodiment; Figure 7 is a structure schematic diagram of the nano-imprint template finally manufactured provided by the embodiment.

[0017] In the figure: 010, exposure film; 011, positioning film; 020, small template; 021, base material; 022, glue structure layer; 031, base; 032, glue; 040, nano-imprint template. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0018] The application will be further described below with reference to the drawings. The following embodiments are only used to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the application, and cannot be used to limit the protection scope of the application.

[0019] Embodiment 1

[0020] The embodiment provides a nano-imprint template manufacturing method, which comprises the following steps: manufacturing a small template with a plurality of positioning points; Create an exposure film and a positioning film corresponding to the size and positioning point position of the small template pattern. The exposure film is a thin plate composed of opaque and translucent areas. The edge of the exposure film is provided with a complementary halftone dot array on the left and right and on the top and bottom. The density of the halftone dots in the halftone array decreases from the opaque area to the translucent area. Furthermore, the translucent state and background state of any two halftone dots in an axially symmetrical state are opposite. The translucent state is translucent or opaque, and the background state is transparent or opaque. Fix the positioning film, fix the small template with the structural pattern facing upward to the first set of positioning points on the positioning film, apply glue between the substrate and the small template, flatten it, fix the exposure film on the substrate according to the positioning points, keep the structural pattern exposed to light, cure, remove the small template, and obtain the first splicing structure; Fix the small template with the structural pattern facing upwards to a set of positioning points above and below the positioning film. Apply glue between the substrate and the small template, flatten it, fix the exposure film to the corresponding area on the substrate according to the positioning points, and keep the halftone dots on the left side of the exposure film aligned with the halftone dots on the right side of the first splicing structure. After curing, remove the small template to obtain a traceless nanoimprint template.

[0021] This invention creates a dot array at the edge of the exposed film, where the density of the dots decreases from opaque to translucent areas. Furthermore, any two dots in an axially symmetrical state have opposite translucent and background states. The translucent state can be either translucent or opaque, and the background state can be either transparent or opaque. This results in complementary structural edge patterns obtained from two transfers. For example, the left side might have a transparent background and opaque dots, while the right side has an opaque background and translucent dots. Because the dots in the dot array are randomly distributed, the transferred structural edge patterns are randomly solidified. This method reduces splicing marks and enables the creation of seamless nanoimprint templates.

[0022] Example 2

[0023] like Figures 2 to 6 As shown, this embodiment provides a method for fabricating a nanoimprint template, including the following steps: A 5cm x 5cm photoresist template with a structural pattern is prepared using 3D photolithography (electron beam lithography can be used as an alternative). The structural pattern has four positioning points along its edge. Adhesive 022 is applied between the photoresist template and the substrate 021. After flattening, it is irradiated with an iodine-gallium lamp for 15 seconds. The template is then peeled off, and any uncured UV adhesive is wiped away. It is then irradiated with an exposure machine for 10 minutes to further cure, resulting in a small template 020. Figure 2 As shown, the small template 020 includes a substrate 021 and an adhesive structure layer 022 (a structure pattern of UV adhesive material) thereon, and there are also positioning points on the small template 020.

[0024] Exposure film 010 and positioning film 011 corresponding to the size and positioning point position of small template 020 are prepared. The number of small templates 020 on positioning film 011 depends on the target large format size, and in this embodiment, a 1*2 format is selected, and the two regions have a 0.6mm wide overlapping range. Exposure film 010 is a thin plate composed of opaque regions and transparent regions, and there are 6 columns of dot arrays with a diameter of 0.1mm in the 0.6mm range of the left and right edges, and the dot density decreases from the opaque region to the transparent region, and the left and right dot distributions are complementary, that is, the left side is transparent background, opaque dot, and the right side is opaque background, transparent dot, and the left side dot can be overlapped with the right side dot after a 49.4mm translation (pattern local length 50mm-0.6mm dot area) (as shown in Figure 3

[0025] As shown in Figure 4 , when copying small template 020 using UV glue, first fix positioning film 011 on the workbench, fix small template 020 to the corresponding position of positioning film 011 according to the positioning points, with the structure facing up, and prepare a large format substrate 031 made of transparent PET, drop glue 032 between substrate 031 and small template 020 and flatten, fix exposure film 010 on the surface of substrate 031 according to the positioning points, only expose the area where the structure pattern needs to be retained, and irradiate for 15 seconds with an iodine gallium lamp exposure machine, separate the transferred structure from small template 020 and wipe off the uncured glue 032, and the left side of the obtained structure (first spliced structure) is distributed with glue-free dots, and the right side is distributed with UV glue dots.

[0026] As shown in Figure 5 , when splicing, move small template 020 to the next set of positioning points of positioning film 011, fix it with the structure facing up, drop glue 032 between substrate 031 and small template 020 and flatten, fix exposure film 010 on the corresponding area of substrate 031 according to the positioning points, ensure that the left side opaque dot of exposure film 010 is aligned with the right side UV glue dot of the first spliced structure, and after irradiation for 15 seconds with an iodine gallium lamp exposure machine, separate the transferred structure from small template 020 and wipe off the uncured glue 032, and obtain a large format nanoimprint template 040 without splicing marks (as shown in Figure 6 , the actual physical diagram is shown in Figure 7 , the red box is the splicing area, and it is difficult to identify the splicing seam with the naked eye, which not only ensures the visual beauty, but also does not affect the performance of the product.

[0027] Example 3

[0028] This embodiment provides a nanoimprint template, which is made by the manufacturing method provided in Example 2.

[0029] ​The above merely describes the preferred embodiments of the present application, and it should be pointed out that, for those skilled in the art, several improvements and modifications can be made without departing from the technical principles of the present application, and these improvements and modifications should also be considered as the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A method for fabricating a nanoimprint template, characterized in that, include: Create a small template with multiple positioning points; Create an exposure film and a positioning film corresponding to the size and positioning point position of the small template pattern. The exposure film is a thin plate composed of opaque and translucent areas. The edge of the exposure film is provided with a complementary halftone dot array on the left and right and on the top and bottom. The density of the halftone dots in the halftone array decreases from the opaque area to the translucent area. Furthermore, the translucent state and background state of any two halftone dots in an axially symmetrical state are opposite. The translucent state is translucent or opaque, and the background state is transparent or opaque. Fix the positioning film, fix the small template with the structural pattern facing upward to the first set of positioning points on the positioning film, apply glue between the substrate and the small template, flatten it, fix the exposure film on the substrate according to the positioning points, keep the structural pattern exposed to light, cure, remove the small template, and obtain the first splicing structure; Fix the small template with the structural pattern facing upwards to a set of positioning points above and below the positioning film. Apply glue between the substrate and the small template, flatten it, fix the exposure film to the corresponding area on the substrate according to the positioning points, and keep the halftone dots on the left side of the exposure film aligned with the halftone dots on the right side of the first splicing structure. After curing, remove the small template to obtain a traceless nanoimprint template.

2. The method for fabricating a nanoimprint template according to claim 1, characterized in that, The process of creating a small template with multiple positioning points includes: A photoresist template with a structural pattern is fabricated, wherein the edge of the structural pattern is provided with multiple positioning points; Adhesive is applied between the photoresist template and the substrate, flattened, cured, and then the photoresist template is removed and cured again to obtain a small template with a structural pattern.

3. The method for fabricating a nanoimprint template according to claim 1, characterized in that, The edge of the structural pattern is provided with 3 to 4 positioning points.

4. The method for fabricating a nanoimprint template according to claim 1, characterized in that, The substrate is transparent PET.

5. The method for fabricating a nanoimprint template according to claim 1, characterized in that, The adhesive is a UV adhesive.

6. The method for fabricating a nanoimprint template according to claim 1, characterized in that, The curing process includes: irradiating the plate with a plate exposure machine for 10-20 seconds; The post-curing process includes irradiating the plate with a exposure machine for 9-11 minutes.

7. The method for fabricating a nanoimprint template according to claim 6, characterized in that, The exposure machine includes an iodine gallium lamp exposure machine or a UV-LED lamp exposure machine.

8. The method for fabricating a nanoimprint template according to claim 1, characterized in that, After the curing process is completed, the process of wiping away the uncured adhesive is also included.

9. The method for fabricating a nanoimprint template according to claim 1, characterized in that, The width of the dot array is 0.5~1mm, and the dots are round dots with a diameter of 0.1~0.5mm.

10. A nanoimprint template, characterized in that, It is produced by the manufacturing method described in any one of claims 1 to 9.

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