| Patent application number | Description | Published |
|---|
| 20080308971 | Solvent-Assisted Layer Formation for Imprint Lithography - A solid layer is formed by applying a multiplicity of discrete portions of a fluid composition onto a surface of an imprint lithography substrate, and allowing the discrete portions of the composition to spontaneously spread on the surface of the substrate to form a substantially continuous layer. The composition includes a solvent and a solid or a solvent and a polymerizable material. The composition can be a solution or a dispersion. At least some of the solvent is evaporated from the composition, and a solid layer is formed (e.g., polymerized or dried) on the substrate. The solid layer is substantially free of interstitial voids. | 12-18-2008 |
| 20090004319 | Template Having a Silicon Nitride, Silicon Carbide or Silicon Oxynitride Film - An imprint lithography template including, inter alia, a body having a first thickness associated therewith; a patterning layer, having a second thickness associated therewith, comprising a plurality of features, having a third thickness associated therewith, wherein said second thickness is defined by: c | 01-01-2009 |
| 20090053535 | Reduced Residual Formation in Etched Multi-Layer Stacks - A multi-layer stack for imprint lithography is formed by applying a first polymerizable composition to a substrate, polymerizing the first polymerizable composition to form a first polymerized layer, applying a second polymerizable composition to the first polymerized layer, and polymerizing the second polymerizable composition to form a second polymerized layer on the first polymerized layer. The first polymerizable composition includes a polymerizable component with a glass transition temperature less than about 25° C., and the first polymerized layer is substantially impermeable to the second polymerizable composition. | 02-26-2009 |
| 20090133751 | Nanostructured Organic Solar Cells - Solar cells having at least one electron acceptor layer and at least one electron donor layer forming a patterned p-n junction are described. Electron acceptor layer may be formed by patterning formable N-type material between a template and an electrode layer, and solidifying the formable N-type material. | 05-28-2009 |
| 20090136654 | Contact Angle Attenuations on Multiple Surfaces - A template is treated to provide a surfactant rich region and a surfactant depleted region. A contact angle at the surfactant rich region may be greater than, less than, or substantially similar to a contact angle of the surfactant depleted region. | 05-28-2009 |
| 20090140458 | POROUS TEMPLATE AND IMPRINTING STACK FOR NANO-IMPRINT LITHOGRAPHY - An imprint lithography template or imprinting stack includes a porous material defining a multiplicity of pores with an average pore size of at least about 0.4 nm. A porosity of the porous material is at least about 10%. The porous template, the porous imprinting stack, or both may be used in an imprint lithography process to facilitate diffusion of gas trapped between the template and the imprinting stack into the template, the imprinting stack or both, such that polymerizable material between the imprinting stack and the template rapidly forms a substantially continuous layer between the imprinting stack and the template. | 06-04-2009 |
| 20090148619 | Controlling Thickness of Residual Layer - Methods for manufacturing a patterned surface on a substrate are described. Generally, the patterned surface is defined by a residual layer having a thickness of less than approximately 5 nm. | 06-11-2009 |
| 20090155583 | Ultra-thin Polymeric Adhesion Layer - An imprint lithography imprinting stack includes a substrate and a polymeric adhesion layer adhered to the substrate. The polymeric adhesion layer includes polymeric components with an extended backbone length of at least about 2 nm. The backbones of the polymeric components may be substantially aligned in a planar configuration on the surface of the substrate, such that a thickness of the polymeric adhesion layer is less than about 2 nm. | 06-18-2009 |
| 20090197057 | Controlling Template Surface Composition in Nano-Imprint Lithography - A nano-imprint lithography process includes forming a multiplicity of hydroxyl groups on a surface of a substantially inorganic nano-imprint lithography template, heating the template, and reacting a pre-selected percentage of the hydroxyl groups on the surface of the template with a mono-functional, non-fluorinated compound to form a monolayer coating on the surface of the nano-imprint lithography template. The coated template may be contacted with a polymerizable composition disposed on a nano-imprint lithography substrate, and the polymerizable composition solidified to form a patterned layer. The coated template is separated from the patterned layer. | 08-06-2009 |
| 20090212012 | CRITICAL DIMENSION CONTROL DURING TEMPLATE FORMATION - Thickness of a residual layer may be altered to control critical dimension of features in a patterned layer provided by an imprint lithography process. The thickness of the residual layer may be directly proportional or inversely proportional to the critical dimension of features. Dispensing techniques and material selection may also provide control of the critical dimension of features in the patterned layer. | 08-27-2009 |
| 20090256289 | Preserving Filled Features When Vacuum Wiping - A method/process for curing imprint on a template prior to contact with a substrate. A curing process is used to adhere the imprint to a wafer or substrate. Monomer is deposited on a template and then partially cured using a UV exposure. The exposure is controlled so that the imprint is cured past the gel point, but still retains a thin liquid layer of uncured monomer at the surface that will bond with the wafer. Further, this partially cured layer enables the alignment adjustments between the template and the substrate to be performed after contact between the two without pulling any monomer out of the features. | 10-15-2009 |
| 20090272875 | Composition to Reduce Adhesion Between a Conformable Region and a Mold - An imprint lithography mold assembly includes a mold having a surface, a substrate having a surface, and a polymerizable composition disposed between the surface of the mold and the surface of the substrate. The polymerizable composition includes a bulk material and a non-ionic surfactant having a first end and a second end. The first end of the non-ionic surfactant has an affinity for the bulk material, and the second end of the non-ionic surfactant is fluorinated. | 11-05-2009 |
| 20100040718 | Template Having a Silicon Nitride, Silicon Carbide or Silicon Oxynitride Film - An imprint lithography template including, inter alia, a body having a first thickness associated therewith; a patterning layer, having a second thickness associated therewith, comprising a plurality of features, having a third thickness associated therewith. | 02-18-2010 |
| 20100072671 | NANO-IMPRINT LITHOGRAPHY TEMPLATE FABRICATION AND TREATMENT - A nano-imprint lithography template includes a rigid support layer, a cap layer, and a flexible cushion layer positioned between the support layer and the cap layer. Treating an imprint lithography template includes heating the template to desorb gases from the template. Heating the template includes radiating the template at a selected wavelength with, for example, infrared radiation. The selected wavelength may correspond to a wavelength at which the template material is strongly absorbing. | 03-25-2010 |
| 20100084376 | NANO-IMPRINT LITHOGRAPHY TEMPLATES - Porous nano-imprint lithography templates may include pores, channels, or porous layers arranged to allow evacuation of gas trapped between a nano-imprint lithography template and substrate. The pores or channels may be formed by etch or other processes. Gaskets may be formed on an nano-imprint lithography template to restrict flow of polymerizable material during nano-imprint lithography processes. | 04-08-2010 |
| 20100090341 | NANO-PATTERNED ACTIVE LAYERS FORMED BY NANO-IMPRINT LITHOGRAPHY - Patterned active layers formed by nano-imprint lithography for use in devices such as photovoltaic cells and hybrid solar cells. One such photovoltaic cell includes a first electrode and a first electrically conductive layer electrically coupled to the first electrode. The first conductive layer has a multiplicity of protrusions and recesses formed by a nano-imprint lithography process. A second electrically conductive layer substantially fills the recesses and covers the protrusions of the first conductive layer, and a second electrode is electrically coupled to the second conductive layer. A circuit electrically connects the first electrode and the second electrode. | 04-15-2010 |
| 20100096776 | Reduction of Stress During Template Separation - Separation of an imprint lithography template and a patterned layer in an imprint lithography process may result in stress to features of the template and/or features of the patterned layer. Such stress may be reduced by minimizing open areas on the template, including dummy features within the open areas, and/or selective positioning of features on the template. | 04-22-2010 |
| 20100098940 | Nano-Imprint Lithography Stack with Enhanced Adhesion Between Silicon-Containing and Non-Silicon Containing Layers - A nano-imprint lithography stack includes a nano-imprint lithography substrate, a non-silicon-containing layer solidified from a first polymerizable, non-silicon-containing composition, and a silicon-containing layer solidified from a polymerizable silicon-containing composition adhered to a surface of the non-silicon-containing layer. The non-silicon-containing layer is adhered directly or through one or more intervening layers to the nano-imprint lithography substrate. The silicon-containing layer includes a silsesquioxane with a general formula (R′ | 04-22-2010 |
| 20100102029 | Imprint Lithography Template - Systems, methods, and processes for forming imprint lithography templates from a multi-layer substrate are described. The multi-layer substrate may include a block copolymer layer positioned on a substrate layer. The block copolymer layer may include two or more domains. At least one domain may have a different composition sensitivity than another domain such that the domains have different reactions to a specific process. Reaction of the domains to the specific process may provide a pattern in the block copolymer layer. The pattern may be transferred into the substrate layer to form the imprint lithography template. | 04-29-2010 |
| 20100102469 | Strain and Kinetics Control During Separation Phase of Imprint Process - Systems and methods for improving robust layer separation during the separation process of an imprint lithography process are described. Included are methods of matching strains between a substrate to be imprinted and the template, varying or modifying the forces applied to the template and/or the substrate during separation, or varying or modifying the kinetics of the separation process. | 04-29-2010 |
| 20100104852 | Fabrication of High-Throughput Nano-Imprint Lithography Templates - An imprint lithography template includes a porous material defining a multiplicity of pores with an average pore size of at least about 0.4 nm. The porous material includes silicon and oxygen, and a ratio of Young's modulus (E) to relative density of the porous material with respect to fused silica (p | 04-29-2010 |
| 20100109195 | RELEASE AGENT PARTITION CONTROL IN IMPRINT LITHOGRAPHY - Release agents with increased affinity toward nano-imprint lithography template surfaces interact strongly with the template during separation of the template from the solidified resist in a nano-imprint lithography process. The strong interaction between the surfactant and the template surface reduces the amount of surfactant pulled off the template surface during separation of a patterned layer from the template in an imprint lithography cycle. Maintaining more surfactant associated with the surface of the template after the separation of the patterned layer from the template may reduce the amount of surfactant needed in a liquid resist to achieve suitable release of the solidified resist from the template during an imprint lithography process. Strong association of the release agent with the surface of the template facilitates the formation of ultra-thin residual layers and dense fine features in nano-imprint lithography. | 05-06-2010 |
| 20100109201 | Nano-Imprint Lithography Template with Ordered Pore Structure - A nano-imprint lithography template includes a non-porous base layer, a cap layer, and a porous layer between the base layer and the cap layer. The porous layer defines a multiplicity of pores and has an ordered pore structure. The cap layer is permeable to helium, and the pores in the porous layer are configured to accept gas passing through the cap layer during an imprint lithography process. The porous layer provides high porosity with a Young's modulus and hardness that are advantageous for imprint lithography processes. | 05-06-2010 |
| 20100109205 | PHOTOCATALYTIC REACTIONS IN NANO-IMPRINT LITHOGRAPHY PROCESSES - An imprint lithography template having a photoactive coating adhered to a surface of the template. Irradiation of the photoactive coating promotes cleaning of the template by decomposition of organic material proximate the template (e.g., organic material adsorbed on the template). An imprint lithography system may be configured such that template cleaning is achieved during formation of a patterned layer on an imprint lithography substrate. Cleaning of the template during an imprint lithography process reduces down-time that may be associated with template maintenance. | 05-06-2010 |
| 20100112236 | Facilitating Adhesion Between Substrate and Patterned Layer - Systems and methods for adhering a substrate to a patterned layer are described. Included are in situ cleaning and conditioning of the substrate, and the application of an adhesion layer between the substrate and the patterned layer, as well as forming an intermediate layer between adhesion materials and the substrate. | 05-06-2010 |
| 20100120251 | Large Area Patterning of Nano-Sized Shapes - Methods for creating nano-shaped patterns are described. This approach may be used to directly pattern substrates and/or create imprint lithography molds that may be subsequently used to directly replicate nano-shaped patterns into other substrates in a high throughput process. | 05-13-2010 |
| 20110030770 | NANOSTRUCTURED ORGANIC SOLAR CELLS - Solar cells having at least one N-type material layer and at least one P-type material layer forming a patterned p-n junction are described. A conducting layer may provide electrical communication between the p-n junction and an electrode layer. | 02-10-2011 |
| 20110031651 | DESIRABLE WETTING AND RELEASE BETWEEN AN IMPRINT LITHOGRAPHY MOLD AND A POLYMERIZABLE COMPOSITION - Improved wetting characteristics together with improved release characteristics with respect to a substrate and an imprint lithography mold having imprinting material disposed therebetween. | 02-10-2011 |
| 20110048518 | Nanostructured thin film inorganic solar cells - Inorganic solar cells having a nano-patterned p-n or p-i-n junction to reduce electron and hole travel distance to the separation interface to be less than the magnitude of the drift length or diffusion length, and meanwhile to maintain adequate active material to absorb photons. Formation of the inorganic solar cells may include one or more nano-lithography steps. | 03-03-2011 |
| 20110049096 | Functional Nanoparticles - Functional nanoparticles may be formed using at least one nano-lithography step. In one embodiment, sacrificial material may be patterned on a multi-layer substrate using an imprint lithography system. The pattern may be further etched into the multi-layer substrate. Functional material may then be deposited on multi-layer substrate and solidified. At least a portion of the functional material may then be removed to provide a crown surface exposing pillars. Pillars may be removed from multi-layer substrate forming functional nanoparticles. | 03-03-2011 |
| 20110140306 | Composition for an Etching Mask Comprising a Silicon-Containing Material - The present invention includes a composition for a silicon-containing material used as an etch mask for underlying layers. More specifically, the silicon-containing material may be used as an etch mask for a patterned imprinted layer comprising protrusions and recessions. To that end, in one embodiment of the present invention, the composition includes a hydroxyl-functional silicone component, a cross-linking component, a catalyst component, and a solvent. This composition allows the silicon-containing material to selectively etch the protrusions and the segments of the patterned imprinting layer in superimposition therewith, while minimizing the etching of the segments in superposition with the recessions, and therefore allowing an in-situ hardened mask to be created by the silicon-containing material, with the hardened mask and the patterned imprinting layer forming a substantially planarized profile. | 06-16-2011 |
| 20110165412 | ADHESION LAYERS IN NANOIMPRINT LITHOGRAHY - Forming an adhesive layer on a nanoimprint lithography template or a double-sided disk. Forming the adhesive layer on the double-sided disk includes immersing the double-sided disk in a liquid adhesive composition and removing the double-sided disk from the adhesive composition. The outer layer of the double-sided disk is a carbon overcoating or an intermediate layer. The adhesive composition is dried to form a first adhesion layer adhered directly to the carbon overcoating or intermediate layer on a first side of the disk and a second adhesion layer adhered directly to the carbon overcoating or intermediate layer on a second side of the disk. Forming the adhesive layer on the nanoimprint lithography template includes applying an adhesive material to the template, allowing the template to remain motionless, and rinsing a portion of the adhesive material from the template with a solvent, and drying the template. | 07-07-2011 |
