Tileable flexible stamp

Abstract

The present invention relates to an expanded master for imprinting micro- and nanostructures, the master being composed of a plurality of tiled master units, the tiled master units comprising the tiled master units having shapes other than hexagons, the adjacent edges of adjacent master units being parallel to one another, and the master units forming the master being arranged such that the joint lines between the master units have only junctions between the master units where at most three corners of adjacent master units meet. The present invention further relates to a flexible stamp for imprinting micro- and nanostructures, which is replicated from such an expanded master. Imprinted products replicated from the flexible stamp are also claimed.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an expanded master for imprinting micro- and nanostructures, the expanded master being composed of tiled master units. The invention further relates to an assembly of stamp tiles for producing the expanded master, and to a flexible stamp copied from the expanded master. [Background technology]

[0002] Micro- and nanostructures are used to improve product performance: this may be improving the efficiency of solar panels using anti-reflective structures, or creating optical 3D effects for displays using microlenses or nano-gratings.

[0003] Imprinting techniques can be used to add structures to products. Various imprinting techniques exist, including wafer-scale UV-NIL, roll-to-roll imprinting, and roll-to-plate imprinting. In each case, a master structure, which has the inverse structure required for the product, is pressed onto the product with a UV-curable or heat-curable resin in between. After curing, the resin solidifies and the master is removed from the product.

[0004] Regarding imprint technology, there is a need to move towards large area imprint for two reasons. 1) There is an opportunity to imprint texture on large products (i.e. solar panels or large displays). 2) It replicates multiple products in one replication cycle, which significantly increases throughput.

[0005] Large-area replication requires a large-area master. The price of the master depends on the production time and therefore the size of the master. Large-area masters are expensive. In roll-to-roll imprinting technology, this problem is solved by using a seamless drum, as disclosed in WO 2017 / 032758. In this case, the diameter of the drum is carefully selected to ensure that there is a continuous area without stitch lines. However, not all textures can be produced affordably using this method.

[0006] Another solution is to create a large expanded master from a small base master. Using a step-and-repeat method, the master structure is replicated multiple times in a matrix structure. Stitch or seam lines exist between replicated areas. By optimizing the process, attempts are made to minimize the stitch or seam width. Examples of the step-and-repeat method are described in, for example, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2004 / 0124566 and U.S. Patent No. 7,077,992, which use a wafer stepper, and Korean Patent No. 1017807289, which uses a roller. Korean Patent No. 1017807289 also aims to avoid stitch lines that may appear on the borders of display products. According to the publication, a tiling technique is applied in which replicated regions are arranged so that their adjacent edges overlap (see also non-patent document Jong G. Ok et al., “A step toward next-generation nanoimprint lithography: extending productivity and applicability”; Appl. Phys. A (2015) 121:343-356).

[0007] A cheaper method for expanding a master is to physically align multiple master units together. This is done, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 8,027,086. A flexible plastic master tile is then wrapped around the diameter of a stainless steel roller and secured. This results in a larger stitch area compared to the step-and-repeat method. By pressing tiles from different master units together, the stitch area or seam between master units is kept as small as possible. Certain textures can tolerate larger stitch or joint widths or seam widths. A second possibility is to tile multiple products together with a single expanded master. CN Patent Publication No. 105911815 discloses stitching together multiple master tiles or template units to form a tiled pattern. The template units are placed on a substrate along alignment marks.

[0008] The use of expanded masters made by tiling multiple masters or made from multiple nanoimprint template units in the imprint process works well only if the stitch quality is properly controlled. Large seams can disrupt the imprint process and degrade the appearance of the imprint. Also, when tiling together, the positional accuracy must be properly controlled. Only with well-controlled positional accuracy can multiple active areas on an imprinted sample made from the expanded master be cut out in a straight line. The appearance of the seams between tiled master units and the width of the seams between tiled master units are often of poor quality in that they are too wide and / or the tiled master units are misaligned and / or rotated. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0009] It is therefore an object of the present invention to make available an extended master for imprinting micro- and nanostructures that has high positional accuracy and thus improved seam appearance and can be easily extended from multiple master units that can be produced cost-effectively. [Means for solving the problem]

[0010] This problem is solved by an extended master for imprinting microstructures and nanostructures, the master being composed of a plurality of tiled master units, the plurality of tiled master units forming the master having tiled master units with shapes different from hexagons, adjacent edges of adjacent master units being parallel to each other, and the master units forming the master being arranged such that the joint lines between the master units have only junction points between the master units where at most three corners of adjacent master units meet.

[0011] In the manufacturing process of the large-area expanded master of the present invention, a plurality of stamp tiles serving as templates for the master unit are arranged, including stamp tiles having shapes other than hexagons. The master units constituting the expanded master are formed from these stamp tiles by imprinting technology. At the same time, an expanded master is formed from the plurality of stamp tiles by imprinting technology. The large-area expanded master of the present invention is then used as a master for replicating the master structure multiple times by imprinting technology, such as wafer-scale UV-NIL, roll-to-roll imprinting, or roll-to-plate imprinting.

[0012] According to the present invention, the plurality of master units must include master units having shapes other than hexagons. In one embodiment of the expanded master, the plurality of master units may include master units having hexagonal shapes in addition to master units having shapes other than hexagons. In any case, as will be further explained below, the shape of the master units and the configuration of the master units must be such that adjacent edges of adjacent master units are parallel to each other, and the master units forming the master must be arranged such that the joint lines between the master units have only junctions between the master units where at most three corners of adjacent master units meet.

[0013] In an advantageous embodiment of the expanded master, the master is made up of tiled master units having a shape different from a hexagon, i.e. the expanded master does not comprise master units having a hexagonal shape.

[0014] The master unit having a shape other than a hexagon can have various shapes as long as the configuration of the master unit meets the requirements of the present invention, and master units having different shapes can be combined to form an extended master. Preferably, the master unit having a shape other than a hexagon has a square, rectangular, or triangular shape, or has a trapezoid with a right-angle base angle, an axisymmetric pentagon, or a parallelogram with an interior angle other than 90°, or has a curved edge in the shape of a vibration curve.

[0015] These statements made with respect to the master unit apply analogously to the stamp tiles, which serve as templates for the master unit. In a further preferred embodiment, the stamp tiles have a flat, planar shape, i.e., they are not curved, for example, into a cylindrical shape. In an equally preferred embodiment, the master unit of the extended master and the extended master have a flat, planar shape, i.e., they are not curved, for example, into a cylindrical shape.

[0016] Although processes for forming masters from stamp tiles are generally known, prior art processes often result in poor quality seam appearances and seam widths between tiled master units of prior art expanded masters, as described above. It has been found that tiling prior art stamp tiles, which use four master units or tiles having square or rectangular shapes to create expanded masters and have their corners meet at a center point to form an intersection joint, makes it difficult to achieve control over positional accuracy. It has been observed that when prior art stamp tiles are pressed or moved together as they are transported to an imprinting station to transfer, or imprint, the patterns of multiple stamp tiles to create an expanded master, the last stamp tile can displace the other stamp tiles, resulting in a misaligned and rotated tile arrangement. Furthermore, the alignment forces applied to the fragile corners can easily damage the corners. This is particularly challenging when using fragile and delicate tiles, as chips or corners must not be broken. Of course, the misaligned and rotated tiling arrangements will also be transferred to the expanded master and the tiled master units of the expanded master, respectively.

[0017] The inventors of this expanded master discovered that misalignment of the stamp tiles and rotated tile arrangements can be reduced or even avoided when a plurality of stamp tiles having non-hexagonal stamp tiles are assembled such that the joint lines between the assembled stamp tiles have only junctions where at most three corners of adjacent stamp tiles meet, i.e., only junctions where at most three vertices of the stamp tiles meet. When stamp tiles having such a tile arrangement are transported, less distortion occurs at the corners or vertices of the stamp tiles at the joints, no displacement of the stamp tiles occurs, and high alignment accuracy can be achieved. At the same time, these advantages can be transferred to an expanded master composed of tiled master units according to the present invention, in which adjacent edges of adjacent master units are parallel to each other, and the master units forming the master are arranged such that the joint lines between the master units have only junctions where at most three corners of adjacent master units meet, i.e., only junctions where at most three vertices of the master units meet. As a result, with the extended master unit, the master unit has high positional accuracy, which results in improved seam appearance.

[0018] Therefore, according to the present invention, it is essential for the assembly of the expanded master and the stamp tiles forming the expanded master that the respective joint lines between the assembled master units and the assembled stamp tiles have only joint points where at most three corners of the adjacent master units and the assembled stamp tiles meet, i.e., coincide with each other. Furthermore, the master units and the stamp tiles must be such that the adjacent edges of the adjacent master units and the adjacent stamp tiles, respectively, are parallel to each other.

[0019] The edges of the master unit may be straight, may have protrusions or notches, or may be curved. In either case, it is important that the adjacent edges of adjacent master units and adjacent stamp tiles are parallel to each other. Master units having shapes other than hexagons and not having curved edges with the shape of a vibration curve preferably have straight edges without protrusions or notches.

[0020] In the case of curved edges, in a preferred embodiment, the edges may have a vibrating curved shape, or in a more preferred embodiment, a sinusoidal shape. In this case, the master unit may have four edges, and the opposing edges may have a vibrating sinusoidal shape, as a preferred example. Alternatively, only one pair of edges on each opposing side may have a sinusoidal shape, while the other two edges may be straight. The master units with curved edges may be arranged in columns along the length of the extended master or in rows perpendicular to the length, with the master units in one column or row offset from the master units in the adjacent columns and rows, respectively. This avoids cross-junctions, as required by the present invention, and achieves only junctions between master units where at most three corners of adjacent master units meet.

[0021] In a preferred embodiment, the master unit and the stamp tiles forming the master unit can have a square or rectangular shape and straight edges, where the junctions where at most three corners of adjacent master units and assembled stamp tiles meet each have a T-shape. In a preferred embodiment, the master unit has a square or rectangular shape, and the extended master can have a length extension, and the master units can be arranged preferably in rows in the length extension with master units of equal size within the row, and the master units in one row exhibit an offset from the master units in adjacent rows.

[0022] Similarly, in a preferred embodiment, the extended master has a length extension, and the master units can be arranged in rows, preferably with equal sized master units within the rows, the rows extending perpendicular to the length extension, and the master units in one row exhibiting an offset from the master units in adjacent rows.

[0023] In a preferred embodiment where the master units are arranged in either columns of the extended master length or in rows perpendicular to the length extension, the master units in one row exhibit an offset from the master units in an adjacent row, and more preferably the offset is such that the joint points along the joint line are at a distance of at least 10 mm from each other.

[0024] The master units can preferably have active areas with a relief structure. In a preferred embodiment, the active areas can extend over the entire surface of each master unit, thereby covering the entire area of ​​the extended master unit and thus forming an extended or large active area. Consequently, also for the flexible stamp, in a preferred embodiment, the entire area of ​​the flexible stamp is covered with an active area with a relief structure. In this case, the flexible stamp can be made to the required size by cutting out a large segment from the entire active area. Alternatively, if the entire flexible stamp is used to produce imprinted products with microstructures and / or nanostructures, a large segment covered with a large active area can be cut out from the imprinted product.

[0025] In a further preferred embodiment, the active area can extend over only a portion of the surface of each master unit. In this case, the active area can have various shapes. It can be, for example, square or rectangular, or circular or elliptical. In a preferred embodiment, the master units are arranged either in columns extending over the length of the extended master or in rows perpendicular to the length, each master unit having an active area with a relief structure extending over only a portion of its surface. To facilitate cutting out multiple tiles from the final large-scale imprinted product, the active areas should be arranged in linear rows and / or columns within the extended master. In this case, the active areas are preferably arranged within corresponding master units within an offset between master units in adjacent rows and / or columns such that the active areas of adjacent master units are aligned in linear rows and / or columns with an alignment accuracy of less than ±1 mm. More preferably, the active areas are positioned within corresponding master units within an offset range between master units of adjacent rows such that the active areas of adjacent master units are aligned with an alignment accuracy of less than ±100 μm, and most preferably less than ±20 μm.

[0026] In further preferred embodiments, the master units may have a triangular or trapezoidal shape, and the expanded master has Y-shaped junctions between the master units. Similarly, in further preferred embodiments, the stamp tiles may have a triangular or trapezoidal shape, and the stamp tile assembly has Y-shaped junctions between the tiled stamps.

[0027] The expanded master of the present invention may include master units having other shapes different from hexagons, as long as the joint lines between the master units only have junctions where at most three corners of adjacent master units meet. Furthermore, the expanded master of the present invention may preferably be composed of master units having a triangular shape and master units having a trapezoidal shape. In this case, in a preferred embodiment, the expanded master may include master units having an isosceles triangle shape and master units having an isosceles trapezoid shape, where the isosceles triangle and the isosceles trapezoid have the same base angle, and the master units are arranged in rows either in the direction of the extension of the length of the expanded master or in a direction perpendicular to the extension of this length, with the isosceles triangles and the isosceles trapezoids alternating within the rows.

[0028] In a further preferred embodiment, the expanded master may consist of a master unit having a triangular shape and a master unit having a trapezoidal shape, and the assembly of stamp tiles may consist of stamp tiles having a triangular shape and stamp tiles having a trapezoidal shape, respectively, whereby the expanded master and the assembly of stamp tiles may each preferably consist of at least one square or rectangular element formed from two equally sized right trapezoids and one isosceles triangle, wherein the base angle of the isosceles triangle and the base angle of the right trapezoid adjacent to the base angle of the isosceles triangle together form a right angle.

[0029] In a further embodiment, the expanded master is composed of a combination of master units in the shape of regular hexagons or hexagons elongated along one direction of symmetry, master units in the shape of axisymmetric pentagons with right-angled base angles, and right-angled trapezoids, where the hexagons, pentagons, and right-angled trapezoids are preferably identical in terms of their size and their contours and are arranged such that they result in an expanded master with a rectangular shape.

[0030] The expanded master of the present invention is particularly well suited for the manufacture of flexible stamps used for imprinting microstructures and nanostructures. Therefore, the present invention also relates to a flexible stamp copied from the expanded master of the present invention. The flexible stamp has tiled subunits with the same tile pattern as the master units of the expanded master. Therefore, the present invention also relates to a flexible stamp for imprinting microstructures and nanostructures, the flexible stamp being composed of a plurality of tiled subunits, the plurality of tiled subunits including tiled subunits having shapes other than hexagonal, the subunits being arranged in the flexible stamp such that adjacent edges of adjacent subunits are parallel to each other and the joint lines between the subunits only have junctions between the subunits where at most three corners of the adjacent subunits meet. With regard to preferred embodiments of the flexible stamp of the present invention, the same applies as for the expanded master of the present invention, and correspondingly, the subunits of the flexible stamp essentially correspond to the master units of the expanded master.

[0031] The present invention further relates to an imprinted product replicated from a flexible stamp according to the present invention. Needless to say, the imprinted product can have the same tiling surface structure as the flexible stamp it copies or replicates. Therefore, the same applies with respect to the preferred embodiments of the imprinted product according to the present invention as with the flexible stamp according to the present invention and the extended master according to the present invention, respectively. This is because the subunits of the flexible stamp corresponding to the master units of the extended master generate segments in the imprinted product that have the same shape and the same configuration as the subunits of the flexible stamp.

[0032] With regard to the design and construction of the flexible stamp of the present invention, embodiments disclosed in the prior art can be used, and in this respect reference is made, for example, to flexible stamps such as those illustrated in US Pat. No. 7,824,519, WO 2016 / 128494 or unpublished European Patent Application No. 18200147.9.

[0033] The present invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the following figures, the scope of which is not limited by the figures. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0034] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram of a stamped tile assembly with four corner joints (prior art). [Figure 2] FIG. 1 shows an assembly of stamp tiles with four corner joints (prior art) after they have been moved together as they are transported to the imprint station. [Figure 3] 1 is a diagram of an extended master according to the present invention, consisting of four master units with rectangular shapes and straight edges. [Figure 4] 1 is a diagram of an extended master according to the present invention, consisting of four master units with rectangular shapes and aligned active areas with straight edges. [Figure 5] 1 is a diagram of an extended master according to the present invention, consisting of three identically sized master units with the shape of an isosceles triangle. [Figure 6] FIG. 10 is a diagram of an expanded master formed from two identically sized right trapezoids and one isosceles triangle. [Figure 7] FIG. 10 is a diagram of an extended master formed from a combination of a master unit having a regular hexagonal shape stretched along one symmetry direction, a master unit having an axisymmetric pentagonal shape, a master unit having a right-angled trapezoidal shape, and a master unit having an isosceles trapezoidal shape. [Figure 8]FIG. 8 is a diagram of an imprinted product that can be obtained from a flexible stamp made from the expanded master shown in FIG. 7, from which large-scale imprinted structures are cut out. [Figure 9] FIG. 8 is a diagram of an imprinted product that can be obtained from a flexible stamp made from the expanded master shown in FIG. 7, from which a large number of small imprinted structures are cut out. [Figure 10] FIG. 8 is a diagram of an imprinted product that can be obtained from a flexible stamp made from an expanded master similar to that shown in FIG. 7, from which a large number of small imprinted structures with segmented active areas are cut out. [Figure 11] FIG. 10 is a diagram of an expanded master having a curved top edge and a curved bottom edge, the expanded master being made up of tiled master units arranged in rows, the master units having edges in the form of a sinusoidal wave on two opposite sides. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0035] FIG. 1 shows a prior art assembly of stamp tiles 1 from which an expanded master can be made. In this example, four stamp tiles 2, 3, 4, 5, each having a rectangular shape, are arranged to meet at their corners at a central point, thus forming a cross joint or cross junction 6. The stamp tiles 2, 3, 4, 5 may have active areas 7 with a relief structure, which cover a portion of the surface of the stamp tiles 2, 3, 4, 5 and have edges parallel to the edges 8A of the stamp tiles 2, 3, 4, 5. Initially, the four stamp tiles 2, 3, 4, 5 are arranged so that adjacent edges 8A of adjacent stamp tiles are parallel to each other, and the joining lines 8B (also called stitch lines or seams) formed between the adjacent edges 8A of the stamp tiles are uniform and well controlled.

[0036] When stamp tiles 2, 3, 4, and 5 of the prior art assembly of stamp tiles 1 of FIG. 1 are pressed or moved together as they are transported to an imprint station for transferring, i.e., imprinting, the pattern of multiple stamp tiles to create an expanded master, the last stamp tiles 4 and 5 may displace the other stamp tiles 2 and 3, resulting in a misaligned and rotated tile placement. Note that for an assembly of stamp tiles such as that shown in FIG. 1 , the misaligned and rotated tile placement may already have occurred during the tile placement process itself, i.e., when the stamp tiles are placed next to each other. This results in uneven gaps 9 and 10 between stamp tiles 2, 3, 4, and 5, as shown in FIG. 2, and high distortion levels at the corners of the intersection junctions 6. If a large-area expanded master is produced from this assembly of stamp tiles 1 with misaligned and rotated tile placement and uneven gaps, the expanded master will also exhibit the same defects.

[0037] 3 shows an expanded master 11 according to the present invention, which is comprised of four master units 12, 13, 14, and 15 having a rectangular shape and straight edges. The master units 12, 13, 14, and 15 are arranged in a row such that adjacent edges of adjacent master units 12, 13, 14, and 15 are parallel to one another. The master units 12, 13, 14, and 15 that form the expanded master 11 are arranged such that the joint line 18B between the master units 12, 13, 14, and 15 has only junction points 16 and 17 between the master units 12, 13, 14, and 15, where three corners of adjacent master units meet, resulting in a T-shape at junction points 16 and 17. This is achieved for the expanded master 11 of Figure 3 by positioning the master units 12, 13, 14, and 15 such that the master units 12, 14 in one row exhibit an offset from the master units 13, 15 in the adjacent row. This offset further achieves that the junctions 16 and 17 are a distance A from each other along the junction line 18B.

[0038] The process for fabricating the expanded master of FIG. 3 uses an assembly of stamp tiles composed of stamp tiles having the same configuration as the master units of the expanded master 11 or an inverse configuration with a negative texture. This means that the assembly of stamp tiles that creates the expanded master 11 of FIG. 3 also has a rectangular shape and is arranged in rows along its length. The assembled stamp tiles of one row exhibit an offset from the assembled stamp tiles of an adjacent row, resulting in a junction where only three corners of adjacent stamp tiles meet, resulting in a junction having a T-shape. When stamp tiles of such an assembly are pressed or moved together as they are transported to an imprinting station to transfer, i.e., imprint, the patterns of multiple stamp tiles for the purpose of fabricating the expanded master, the junction experiences less distortion at the corners or vertices of the stamp tiles, no displacement of the stamp tiles, and high registration accuracy.

[0039] At the same time, these advantages are transferred to the expanded master 11. Thus, the four master units 12, 13, 14, and 15 of the expanded master of Figure 3 are positioned so that adjacent edges 18A of adjacent stamp tiles are parallel to each other, and thus the joining lines 18B (also called stitch lines or seams) formed between the master units 12, 13, 14, and 15 are uniform and well-controlled.

[0040] As shown for the stamped tiles 2, 3, 4, 5 of Figures 1 and 2, the master units 12, 13, 14, 15 of the expanded master 11 of Figure 3 can also have active areas 20 with relief structures, in which case the active areas 20 cover part of the surface of the master units 12, 13, 14, 15 and have edges parallel to the edges of the master units 12, 13, 14, 15.

[0041] FIG. 4 shows another expanded master 11′ of the present invention. Similar to the expanded master 11 of FIG. 3, the expanded master 11′ of FIG. 4 is composed of four master units 12′, 13′, 14′, and 15′, each having a rectangular shape and straight edges. The master units 12′, 13′, 14′, and 15′ also have active areas 20′, 20″, 20′″, and 20″″ with a relief structure, where the active areas 20′, 20″, 20′″, and 20″″ cover a portion of the surface of the master units 12′, 13′, 14′, and 15′ and have edges parallel to the edges of the master units 12′, 13′, 14′, and 15′. The master units 12′, 13′, 14′, and 15′ are arranged in a row such that adjacent edges 18A′ of adjacent master units 12′, 13′, 14′, and 15′ are parallel to each other. The master units 12', 13', 14', and 15' that form the extended master 11' are arranged so that the joint lines 18B' between the master units 12', 13', 14', and 15' only have joints 16' and 17', where the three corners of adjacent master units meet, so that the joints 16' and 17' have a T-shape.

[0042] Unlike the master units forming the expanded master of FIG. 11, the master units 12′, 13′, 14′, and 15′ of the expanded master 11′ of FIG. 4 are different sizes, but the size of the active areas in the master units 12′, 13′, 14′, and 15′ is the same for all master units. To ensure easy cutting of multiple tiles from the final large-scale imprint product, the active areas 20′, 20″, 20′″, and 20″″ are arranged in linear rows and / or linear columns in the expanded master 11′, and the active areas 20′, 20″, 20′″, and 20″″ are arranged within corresponding master units within a range of offset between the master units in adjacent rows and / or columns such that the active areas of adjacent master units are aligned in the linear rows and / or linear columns with the required alignment accuracy, shown as distance B and distance C in FIG. 4. According to the present invention, the alignment accuracy is preferably less than ±1 mm.

[0043] 5 shows an embodiment of an extended master 100 according to the present invention, which is comprised of three equally sized master units 101, 102, 103 having an isosceles triangle shape, with Y-shaped junctions 104 between the master units 101, 102, 103. The master units 101, 102, 103 of the extended master 100 are arranged to form the extended master 100 such that the sides of the isosceles triangle abut each other.

[0044] The expanded master 100 of FIG. 5 has an active area covering the entire surface of the expanded master 100.

[0045] 6 shows an expanded master 200 according to the present invention having a rectangular shape and formed from two equally sized right trapezoids 201, 202 and one isosceles triangle 203, where the base angles α1, α2 of the isosceles triangle 203 and the base angles β1, β2 of the right trapezoids 201, 202 adjacent to the base angles α1, α2 of the isosceles triangle 203 together form right angles. The expanded master 200 of FIG. 6 also has an active area covering the entire surface of the expanded master 200.

[0046] Figure 7 shows an expanded master 300 formed by combining master unit 301, which is a regular hexagon stretched along one symmetrical direction, master unit 302, which is an axisymmetric pentagon with a right-angled base, master unit 303, which is a right-angled trapezoid, and finally, master unit 304, which is an isosceles trapezoid. The hexagon, pentagon, right-angled trapezoid, and isosceles trapezoid are identical in size and outline and arranged to form a rectangle. In the expanded master unit of Figure 7, the joint line 305 between master units 301, 302, 303, and 304 has only one junction point 306, where the three corners of adjacent master units meet, forming a Y shape.

[0047] Also, the expanded master 300 of FIG. 7 has an active area covering the entire surface of the expanded master 300, as indicated by the dotted line markings.

[0048] Figure 8 shows a schematic representation of an imprinted product 400 that can be obtained from a flexible stamp made from the expanded master shown in Figure 7. The imprinted product 400 has active areas across its entire surface. The seam lines 305 between the master units present in the expanded master of Figure 7 can also be seen as seams, borders, or stitch lines 401 on the final imprinted product 400.

[0049] As shown by dotted line 402 in FIG. 8, the imprinted large scale structure 402 can be cut out of the imprinted product 400 along dotted line 403 .

[0050] In a further embodiment shown in FIG. 9 , multiple smaller imprinted structures 502 can be obtained from an imprinted product 500 corresponding to the imprinted product 400 shown in FIG. 8 . Again, as indicated by dotted lines 503 and 504 in FIG. 9 , segments 502 can be cut from the imprinted product 500, which are smaller in size than the tiles derived from the master unit of the expanded master, resulting in the final imprinted structure, seen as a tile surrounded by stitch lines 501. The imprinted structures 502 can be obtained by first cutting the imprinted product 500 along lines 503 and then along lines 504. Thus, as shown in FIG. 9 , an expanded master such as that shown in FIG. 7 can be used in a manufacturing process that can replicate multiple products, i.e., multiple smaller imprinted structures, in one replication cycle.

[0051] FIG. 10 illustrates an embodiment of an imprinted product 600 resulting from an expanded master similar to that shown in FIG. 7 . In contrast to the expanded master shown in FIG. 7 , the master units of the expanded master underlying the imprinted product 600 of FIG. 10 each have a rectangular active area that covers only a portion of the surface of the master unit. As a result, the imprinted product 600 shown in FIG. 10 also has a rectangular segment 601 of active area within a tile bounded by stitch lines 602. An imprinted structure 603 can be obtained by first cutting the imprinted product 600 along line 604 and then along line 605. Thus, as also shown in FIG. 10 , an expanded master similar to that shown in FIG. 7 can be used in a manufacturing process that can replicate multiple products, i.e., multiple smaller imprinted structures, in a single replication cycle.

[0052] 11 shows an example of an expanded master 700 having a curved top edge 701 and a curved bottom edge 702, where the expanded master 700 is composed of tiled master units 703 arranged in a row. The master unit 703 has vibrating or sinusoidal edges 704, 705 on two opposite sides. The other two edges 706, 707 of the master unit 703 and the other two edges 708, 709 of the expanded master 700 are straight. The sinusoidal lines formed by the sinusoidal edges 704, 705 of the master units in one row run parallel to the sinusoidal lines formed by the sinusoidal edges 704, 705 of the master units in an adjacent row. The linear edges 706, 707 of the master units 703 in one row are offset relative to the linear edges 706, 707 of the master units 703 in an adjacent row, such that there are only junctions 710 between the master units 703 where two corners of adjacent master units 703 meet and meet the continuous sinusoidal edges 704, 705 of a third master unit along the sinusoidal seam line between the master units 703. In the expanded master 703 of Figure 11, the master unit 703 has a rectangular section of active area 711.

Claims

1. 1. An expanded master for fabricating flexible stamps used for imprinting microstructures and nanostructures, the master being composed of a plurality of tiled master units, the plurality of tiled master units comprising the master having tiled master units with shapes other than hexagonal, adjacent edges of adjacent master units being parallel to each other, and the master units forming the master being arranged such that joint lines between the master units have only junctions between the master units where at most three corners of adjacent master units meet; An extended master, wherein each master unit has an active area with a relief structure, said active area extending to cover only a portion of the surface of each master unit.

2. 2. The expanded master according to claim 1, wherein the master is composed of tiled master units having a shape other than a hexagon.

3. The master unit having a shape other than a hexagon is have a square, rectangular or triangular shape, or It has the shape of a trapezoid, an axisymmetric pentagon with right-angle base angles, or a parallelogram with interior angles that are not 90°; or It has curved edges with a sinusoidal shape 3. The extended master according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it comprises:

4. The expanded master of claim 1 , wherein the active areas are arranged in linear rows and / or linear columns within the expanded master.

5. 5. The expanded master of claim 4, wherein the master units of adjacent rows and / or columns are offset from each other such that the active areas of adjacent master units are aligned in linear rows and / or linear columns with an alignment accuracy of less than ±1 mm.

6. 2. The expanded master of claim 1, wherein the expanded master has a length direction, the master units are arranged in rows along the length direction, and the master units in one row indicate an offset from the master units in an adjacent row.

7. 2. The expanded master of claim 1, wherein the master has a length direction, the master units are arranged in rows perpendicular to the length direction, and the master units in one row exhibit an offset from the master units in adjacent rows.

8. 3. The expanded master of claim 2, wherein the master unit has a square or rectangular shape and straight edges, and the junction has a T-shape.

9. 9. The expanded master of claim 8, wherein the master units within a row are of equal size.

10. 2. The expanded master of claim 1, wherein the active areas have edges parallel to edges of the corresponding master units, and the active areas are positioned within the corresponding master units within an offset between the master units of adjacent rows such that the active areas of adjacent master units are aligned with an alignment accuracy of less than ±1 mm.

11. 3. The expanded master according to claim 1, wherein the expanded master is composed of master units having a triangular shape, or master units having a trapezoidal shape with a right-angled base or an axisymmetric pentagonal shape, and the expanded master has Y-shaped junctions between the master units.

12. 12. The extended master of claim 11, comprising a master unit having a triangular shape and a master unit having a trapezoidal shape.

13. 10. The enhanced master of claim 1, wherein the master unit has curved edges having a sinusoidal shape.

14. The extended master of claim 1, wherein the plurality of master units further includes a master unit having a hexagonal shape.

15. A flexible stamp copied from an extended master according to any one of claims 1 to 14.

16. 16. An imprinted product reproduced from the flexible stamp of claim 15.

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