Adhesion between template materials and UV-cured nanoimprint resists

Defects in polymeric lithographic stencils fabricated by the UV-cured nanoimprint technique result from fundamental surface interactions between template and resist in addition to the presence of particles and contaminants. Repeated and molecularly clean separations of the template from the cured resist are a requirement for successful application of the imprint method yet little is understood about their dependence on interfacial physics and chemistry. The process of interfacial separation of several model acrylate nanoimprint resist formulations cured in contact with clean (no release treatment) and release-treated silica glass surfaces has been quantitatively investigated. The results show that interfacial fracture energies are resist formulation dependent, that the resist-release layer systems studied are not chemically stable and that the release process is more complex than simple fracture at a glass-organic interface.