Nanometer Wire Grid Fabrication via Nano-Imprint Lithography
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing methods for fabricating nanometer wire grid structures face challenges such as difficulty in removing photoresist residue, non-uniform etching, and wire grid collapse, leading to low efficiency and long fabrication cycles.
Innovation Solution
A method involving a thermoplastic base plate subjected to hot pressing with an imprinting mold to form recesses and projections, followed by metal film deposition and transfer using a metal bonding adhesive to a carrier board, eliminating the need for photoresist coating and etching, thereby simplifying the process and improving yield.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If traditional photolithography is used to fabricate nanometer wire grid structures, then the fabrication process can be performed with conventional equipment, but the fabrication resolution is limited by the wavelength of exposure light and cannot produce structures smaller than 10 nm
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the optical-based photolithography system with a mechanical nano-imprint lithography system. A mold with nanometer-scale patterns is physically pressed onto a polymer film to transfer the pattern directly, eliminating the wavelength limitation of optical methods and achieving resolution below 10 nm through direct mechanical contact and replication.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses a pre-fabricated mold containing the desired nanometer wire grid pattern to create an exact physical copy of the pattern on the polymer film. The mold serves as a template that is replicated onto the substrate through imprinting, enabling high-resolution pattern transfer without requiring complex optical alignment or exposure systems.
2Manufacturing precision
If photoresist and etching processes are used to fabricate nanometer wire grid structures, then the metal wire grid can be formed, but the wire grids are prone to collapse and etching is non-uniform due to the nanometer-scale dimensions
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of forming wires by removing material through etching (subtractive process), the patent forms wires by depositing metal onto a pre-formed polymer pattern (additive process). This inversion of the fabrication approach eliminates etching-induced damage and collapse, as the metal is deposited conformally on stable polymer structures rather than attempting to carve nanometer-scale features from bulk material.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs the patterning action beforehand by creating the polymer pattern through nano-imprint lithography before metal deposition. The polymer structures are formed with precise nanometer dimensions in advance, providing stable templates that guide subsequent metal deposition. This preliminary pattern formation avoids the need for delicate etching operations on the final wire structures.
3Manufacturing precision
If multiple process steps including photoresist coating, imprinting, separation, etching, and photoresist removal are used, then nanometer wire grid structures can be fabricated, but the fabrication cycle is long and efficiency is low
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple separate process steps into integrated operations. The nano-imprint lithography step simultaneously creates the polymer pattern that serves as both the structural template and the masking layer for metal deposition. The metal deposition step conformally coats the polymer structures, forming the final wire grid pattern in a single deposition process without requiring separate etching and photoresist removal steps.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts and eliminates unnecessary process steps from the traditional fabrication sequence. By using nano-imprint lithography to create self-supported polymer patterns, the method removes the need for photoresist coating and subsequent photoresist removal steps. The polymer patterns themselves serve as the final structure, eliminating the need for separate masking and etching operations that would otherwise be required.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach simplifies the fabrication process, reduces fabrication time, and enhances efficiency by avoiding photoresist residue and etching issues, resulting in a more reliable and efficient production of nanometer wire grid structures.
Implementation Method 1
providing a thermoplastic base plate and an imprinting mold and subjecting the thermoplastic base plate to hot pressing with the imprinting mold so as to form a plurality of recesses and a plurality of projections
Implementation Method 2
depositing a metal film on the surface of the thermoplastic base plate that is formed with the recesses and the projections
Implementation Method 3
using a metal bonding adhesive material to transfer portions of the metal film from the projections to the wire grid carrier board
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention provides a nanometer wire grid structure fabrication method. The method first uses an imprinting mold to subject a thermoplastic base plate to hot pressing so as to form a plurality of recesses and a plurality of projections that are alternate with each other thereon, and then forms a metal film on the plurality of recesses and the plurality of projections, then uses a metal bonding adhesive material to transfer portions of the metal film located on the projections to a wire grid carrier board, and finally peeling off the thermoplastic base plate to obtain a nanometer wire grid structure, and compared to the prior art, the entire process is conducted in a manner of being free of photoresist coating, photoresist residue, and metal etching, so as to avoid problems of fabrication of the prior art caused by poor etching accuracy, difficulty of photoresist residue removal, and wire grid collapsing during etching operation and help simplify the fabrication process of a nanometer wire grid structure, shorten fabrication time of the nanometer wire grid structure, and improve fabrication efficiency and process yield of the nanometer wire grid structure.