Multistep profiles by mix and match of nanoimprint and UV lithography

Driven by the steadily increasing scale of integration in microelectronics much effort has been made in recent years to establish the technique of nan oimprint lithography (NIL) as a promising approach to time and cost-effecti ve fabrication of nanometer scale patterns. NIL enables high throughput for mass fabrication in a simple way. Experiments have revealed that nanoimpri nt of small and periodic patterns in the mn range is much easier obtained t han for mum scale patterns due to polymer transport phenomena. Thus a combi nation of NIL with optical lithography is considered to be advantageous for the definition of small patterns adjacent to large patterns. The multifunc tionality of the material within one layer offers new routes in device desi gn, in particular as multistep profiles are obtainable. In this contributio n a combination of NIL and UV lithography is reported using polymers which are both imprintable and photosensitive. Based on an epoxy type negative to ne chemically amplified resist system patterns were easily obtained using b oth techniques. In the first step a pattern relief was produced through imp rinting. In the second step this relief was UV exposed in a contact printer and then developed. In this way three-step profiles could be generated wit hin one single polymer layer. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights res erved.