ABSTRACT

This chapter investigates resin deformation processes by simulation and experimental studies for various aspect ratios of the mold patterns and various initial resin thicknesses. It discusses typical defects due to induced strain in the thermal nanoimprinting process. The typical case of defects in the deformation process arises in high-aspect-ratio pattern processing. The chapter discusses the incidence of defects and how to deal with the defects on the basis of simulation works. The required pressure depends on the aspect ratio of the pattern. When the aspect ratio increases, the required pressure increases because the resin is hardly filling the narrow cavity. When the aspect ratio decreases to a value below 0.8, the required pressure again increases. This is because the resin is deformed only near the cavity edge area and not easily deformed at the center area of the cavity.