Combination of Nanoimprint and Scanning Force Lithography for local tailoring of sidewalls of nanometer devices

The combination of nanoimprint lithography (NIL) and scanning force lithogr aphy (SFL) was used for processing features with a defined sidewall angle. We applied a commercial P(MMA/MAA) copolymer, the e-beam resist ARP-610, wh ich was first imprinted by NIL and afterwards modified by SFL. The prebake temperature had to be adjusted in order to assure imprintability of the pol ymer over large areas with a fully patterned stamp. The imprinted profiles could be successfully post-processed within local regions by SFL. Cutting o f lines as well as line removal were demonstrated. In addition, controlled slopes could be prepared by adjusting the local gradient of the load force used in the SFL process.