Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080204693 | Substrate Support Method - The present invention includes a method for supporting a substrate that features a chuck body having a body surface with a pin extending therefrom having a contact surface lying in a plane, with the pin being movably coupled to the chuck body to move with respect to the plane. To that end, the method includes disposing the substrate upon two spaced-apart bodies; and moving one of the two spaced-apart bodies away from the substrate. | 08-28-2008 |
20080305440 | APPARATUS FOR FABRICATING NANOSCALE PATTERNS IN LIGHT CURABLE COMPOSITIONS USING AN ELECTRIC FIELD - The present invention is directed to an apparatus for patterning a liquid on a substrate, with the apparatus including, a template having a pair of spaced-apart recessions with a protrusion disposed therebetween, with the protrusion being spaced-apart from the substrate a first distance and each of the pair of spaced-apart recessions being spaced-apart from the substrate a second distance, with the second distance being greater than the first distance; and a source of voltage in electrical communication with the template to produce an electric field between the template and the substrate, with a strength of the electrical field being inversely proportional to the first and second distances. | 12-11-2008 |
20090011139 | Method for Concurrently Employing Differing Materials to Form a Layer on a Substrate - The present invention is directed to a method of forming a layer on a substrate, comprising forming a plurality of flowable regions on the substrate, with a first subset of the plurality of flowable regions comprising a first composition and a second subset of the plurality of flowable regions including a second composition differing from the first composition. A surface of the first and second subsets is provided with a desired shape and/or each of the areas of the substrate covered by the flowable regions may be provided with a desired shape. Thereafter, the desired shaped is recorded by solidifying the first and second subsets of the plurality of flowable regions. | 01-08-2009 |
20090025246 | Remote Center Compliant Flexure Device - An apparatus to control displacement of a body spaced-apart from a surface includes a flexure system having a first flexure member defining a first axis of rotation and a second flexure member defining a second axis of rotation. A body is coupled to the flexure system to move about a plurality of axes. An actuation system is coupled to the flexure system to selectively constrain movement of the body along a subset of the plurality of axes. | 01-29-2009 |
20090035934 | Self-Aligned Cross-Point Memory Fabrication - Fabricating a cross-point memory structure using two lithography steps with a top conductor and connector or memory element and a bottom conductor orthogonal to the top connector. A first lithography step followed by a series of depositions and etching steps patterns a first channel having a bottom conductor. A second lithography step followed by a series of depositions and etching steps patterns a second channel orthogonal to the first channel and having a memory element connecting the an upper conductor and the lower conductor at their overlaid intersections. | 02-05-2009 |
20090037004 | Method and System to Control Movement of a Body for Nano-Scale Manufacturing - The present invention is directed towards a method and system of controlling movement of a body coupled to an actuation system that features translating movement of the body in a plane extending by imparting angular motion in the actuation system with respect to two spaced-apart axes. Specifically, rotational motion is generated in two spaced-apart planes, one of which extends parallel to the plane in which the body translates. This facilitates proper orientation of the body with respect to a surface spaced-apart therefrom. | 02-05-2009 |
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 |
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 |
20090166933 | Template Pattern Density Doubling - A sub-master template is patterned to provide at least double the density of features of a master template. The sub-master template and master template may employ the use of alignment marks during the patterning process. | 07-02-2009 |
20090200709 | Full-Wafer or Large Area Imprinting with Multiple Separated Sub-Fields for High Throughput Lithography - A layer on a substrate is formed using an imprint lithography system. The layer is formed by providing a plurality of flowable regions on the substrate, spreading material in the flowable regions, and contacting the regions with a plurality of imprint lithography molds that are disposed on a template. | 08-13-2009 |
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 |
20090214686 | Formation of Conductive Templates Employing Indium Tin Oxide - The present invention is directed to a method forming conductive templates that includes providing a substrate; forming a mesa on the substrate; and forming a plurality of recessions and projections on the mesa with a nadir of the recessions comprising electrically conductive material and the projections comprising electrically insulative material. It is desired that the mesa be substantially transparent to a predetermined wavelength of radiation, for example ultraviolet radiation. As a result, it is desired to form the electrically conductive material from a material that allows ultraviolet radiation to propagate therethrough. In the present invention indium tin oxide is a suitable material from which to form the electrical conductive material. | 08-27-2009 |
20090214689 | Imprint Lithography Templates Having Alignment Marks - One embodiment of the present invention is an imprint template for imprint lithography that comprises alignment marks embedded in bulk material of the imprint template. | 08-27-2009 |
20090214761 | REAL TIME IMPRINT PROCESS DIAGNOSTICS FOR DEFECTS - Defects and/or particles during an imprint lithography process may provide exclusion zones and/or transition zones in the patterned layer. Exclusion zones and/or transition zones in the patterned layer may be identified to provide a region of interest on a template. | 08-27-2009 |
20090243153 | Large Area Roll-To-Roll Imprint Lithography - Droplets of polymerizable material may be patterned on a film sheet. The droplets of polymerizable material may be dispensed on the film sheet. A pre-determined force may be applied to an imprint lithography template such that localized trapping of the droplets of the polymerizable material on the film sheet is minimized and the droplets coalesce to form a continuous layer. The polymerizable material may be solidified to form a patterned layer having a residual layer and at least one feature. | 10-01-2009 |
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 |
20090283934 | Imprinting of Partial Fields at the Edge of the Wafer - Edge field patterning of a substrate having full fields and partial fields may include patterning using a template having multiple mesas with each mesa corresponding to a field on the substrate. Polymerizable material may be deposited solely between the template and the full fields of the substrate. A non-reactive material may be deposited between the template and partial fields of the substrate. | 11-19-2009 |
20090294059 | Remote Center Compliant Flexure Device - An apparatus to control displacement of a body spaced-apart from a surface includes a flexure system having a first flexure member defining a first axis of rotation and a second flexure member defining a second axis of rotation. A body is coupled to the flexure system to move about a plurality of axes. An actuation system is coupled to the flexure system to selectively constrain movement of the body along a subset of the plurality of axes. | 12-03-2009 |
20100007868 | Substrate Support System Having a Plurality of Contact Lands - The present invention includes a substrate support system having a chuck body. The chuck body includes a body surface with a pin extending therefrom having a contact surface lying in a plane. The pin may be movably coupled to the chuck body to move with respect to the plane. The pin may also include a cross-member having multiple contact lands. | 01-14-2010 |
20100012622 | Adaptive Nanotopography Sculpting - Adaptive nanotopography sculpting may be used to alter nanotopography and roughness without altering the nominal shape of a surface. Generally, adaptive nanotopography sculpting provides a surface having desired shape characteristics. Topography of a first surface is mapped to provide a density map. The density map is evaluated to provide a drop pattern for dispensing polymerizable material on the first surface. The polymerizable material is solidified and etched to provide a second surface having the desired shape characteristics. | 01-21-2010 |
20100053578 | Apparatus for imprint lithography using an electric field - A lithography process for creating patterns in an activating light curable liquid using electric fields followed by curing of the activating light curable liquid is described. The process involves the use of a template that is formed of non-conductive and electrically conductive portions. The template is brought into close proximity to the activating light curable liquid on the substrate. An external electric field is applied to the template-substrate interface while maintaining a uniform, carefully controlled gap between the template and substrate. This causes the activating light curable liquid to be attracted to the raised portions of the template. Activating light is applied to the curable liquid while an electric field is applied to the template to create a patterned layer on the substrate. | 03-04-2010 |
20100078846 | Particle Mitigation for Imprint Lithography - Particles may be present on substrates and/or templates during nano-lithographic imprinting. Particles may be mitigated and/or removed using localized removal techniques and/or imprinting techniques as described. | 04-01-2010 |
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 |
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 |
20100112116 | Double-Sided Nano-Imprint Lithography System - A nano-imprint lithography system is described for patterning first and second substrates, the system includes a translation stage constructed to alternatively place substrate chucks in position with respect to a nano-imprint mold assembly such that the nano-imprint mold assembly may imprint a pattern on one of the substrates, while concurrently obtaining a desired spatial relationship for the remaining substrate. | 05-06-2010 |
20100112310 | Substrate Patterning - Systems and methods for providing identification patterns on substrates are described. | 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 |
20100129486 | Method and System for Double-Sided Patterning of Substrates - A system of patterning first and second opposed sides of a substrate is described. The system may employ a mold assembly and obtaining a desired spatial relationship between the first and second opposed sides of the substrate and the mold assembly. In a further embodiment, the method and system may employ a first and a second mold assembly. | 05-27-2010 |
20100140218 | Positive Tone Bi-Layer Method - Methods of patterning a substrate including creating a multi-layered structure by forming, on the substrate, a patterned layer having protrusions and recessions are described. A polymerizable material composition is dispense on the patterned layer defining a conformal layer, with the multi-layered structure having a crown surface facing away from the substrate. Portions of the multi-layered structure are removed to expose regions of the substrate in superimposition with the protrusions, while forming a hard mask in areas of the crown surface in superimposition with the recessions. | 06-10-2010 |
20100140841 | Capillary Imprinting Technique - The present invention provides a method for patterning a substrate with a template having a mold that features positioning conformable material between the substrate and the mold and filling a volume defined between the mold and the substrate with the conformable material through capillary action between the conformable material and one of the mold and the substrate. Thereafter, the conformable material is solidified. Specifically, the distance between the mold and the substrate is controlled to a sufficient degree to attenuate, if not avoid, compressive forces between the mold and the substrate. As a result, upon initial contact of the mold with the conformable material, spontaneous capillary filling of the volume between the mold and the substrate occurs. | 06-10-2010 |
20100143521 | Method for Expelling Gas Positioned Between a Substrate and a Mold - The present invention is directed towards a system for expelling a gas positioned between a substrate and a mold, the substrate and the mold further having a liquid positioned therebetween. | 06-10-2010 |
20100154993 | SEPARATION METHODS FOR IMPRINT LITHOGRAPHY - Methods for separating a template from a substrate are described. Generally, the template and the substrate have a template-substrate interface. A tilting motion may be generated about a tilting axis located at the template-substrate interface. The tilting motion may include forming a wedge between the template and the substrate at one end of the template-substrate interface. The substrate may be titled with respect to the template, and the template may remain stationary. Additionally, a force may be applied to increase a distance between the template and the substrate, such that the template is spaced apart from the substrate. | 06-24-2010 |
20100173034 | Conforming Template for Patterning Liquids Disposed on Substrates - The present invention includes a template for patterning liquids disposed on a substrate. The template includes a body having opposed first and second surfaces with one surface having at least one recess and the other surface having a patterning region. In one embodiment, the template may be mounted to a fluid chamber having an inlet and a throughway. The template may be connected to the throughway and the inlet is connected to a fluid source. | 07-08-2010 |
20100181289 | Forming a Layer on a Substrate - The present invention is directed to a method of forming an imprinting layer on a substrate including high resolution features, and transferring the features into a solidified region of the substrate. Desired thickness of the residual layer may be minimized in addition to visco-elastic behavior of the material. | 07-22-2010 |
20100201042 | Step and Repeat Imprint Lithography Processes - Methods of forming continuous layers on regions of a substrate are described. Generally, an imprint lithography template may contact liquid positioned on the substrate. The liquid may be cured forming a masking layer, and the imprint lithography template separated from the masking layer. Prior to separation, pressurized gas and/or vacuum may be applied between the template and the substrate. Additionally, during separation, pressurized gas and/or vacuum may be applied between the template and the substrate. | 08-12-2010 |
20100259745 | METHOD FOR OBTAINING FORCE COMBINATIONS FOR TEMPLATE DEFORMATION USING NULLSPACE AND METHODS OPTIMIZATION TECHNIQUES - The present invention is directed towards a method for determining deformation parameters that a patterned device would undergo to minimize dimensional variations between a recorded pattern thereon and a reference pattern, the method including, inter alia, comparing spatial variation between features of the recorded pattern with respect to corresponding features of the reference pattern; and determining deformation forces to apply to the patterned device to attenuate the dimensional variations, with the forces having predetermined constraints, wherein a summation of a magnitude of the forces is substantially zero and a summation of moment of the forces is substantially zero. | 10-14-2010 |
20100278954 | Method of Concurrently Patterning a Substrate Having a Plurality of Fields and a Plurality of Alignment Marks - Imprint lithography templates for patterning substrates are described. The templates include a section having a mold a first pattern of alignment forming areas and template alignment marks. The additional sections are generally devoid of a mold. One or more of the additional section may include the first pattern of a second pattern of alignment forming areas and template alignment marks. The second pattern may correspond to the first pattern. | 11-04-2010 |
20100291257 | Template Having a Varying Thickness to Facilitate Expelling a Gas Positioned Between a Substrate and the Template - A nanoimprint lithography template including, inter alia, a body having first and second opposed sides with a first surface disposed on the first side, the second side having a recess disposed therein, the body having first and second regions with the second region surrounding the first region and the recess in superimposition with the first region, with a portion of the first surface in superimposition with the first region being spaced-apart from the second side a first distance and a portion of the first surface in superimposition with the second region being spaced-apart from the second side a second distance, with the second distance being greater than the first distance; and a mold disposed on the first side of the body in superimposition a portion of the first region. | 11-18-2010 |
20100323490 | Self-Aligned Cross-Point Memory Fabrication - Fabricating a cross-point memory structure using two lithography steps with a top conductor and connector or memory element and a bottom conductor orthogonal to the top connector. A first lithography step followed by a series of depositions and etching steps patterns a first channel having a bottom conductor. A second lithography step followed by a series of depositions and etching steps patterns a second channel orthogonal to the first channel and having a memory element connecting the an upper conductor and the lower conductor at their overlaid intersections. | 12-23-2010 |
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 |
20110042345 | METHODS FOR MANUFACTURING CHUCKING SYSTEMS - Methods for manufacturing chucking systems are described. Generally, a plurality of flow holes may be provided in an optical flat. A surface of the optical flat may be masked and patterned to provide a desired feature (e.g., pins or grooves). The surface may etched to produce the desired feature on the surface of the optical flat. | 02-24-2011 |
20110048160 | Method and System to Control Movement of a Body for Nano-Scale Manufacturing - Systems to control movement of a template during an imprint lithography process are described. The systems include an orientation stage having an inner frame, and outer frame, and a plurality of actuators coupled between the inner frame and the outer frame to vary translational motion and impart angular motion about a plurality of axes. | 03-03-2011 |
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 |
20110056911 | Positive Tone Bi-Layer Method - Methods of imprint lithography are described. Generally, the methods include imprinting, via a patterned mold, a pattern into a polymerizable fluid composition on a substrate to form a patterned imprinting layer. A conformal layer is overlayed on the patterned imprinting layer. A portion of the conformal layer is used as a hard mask for subsequent processing. The imprinted pattern may be transferred to the substrate by a plurality of etches. | 03-10-2011 |
20110084417 | LARGE AREA LINEAR ARRAY NANOIMPRINTING - Systems and methods for imprinting and aligning an imprint lithography template with a field on a substrate are described. The field of the substrate may include an elongated side, and alignment sensitivity on the elongated side may be intentionally minimized. | 04-14-2011 |
20110140302 | Capillary Imprinting Technique - The present invention provides a method for patterning a substrate with a template having a mold that features positioning conformable material between the substrate and the mold and filling a volume defined between the mold and the substrate with the conformable material through capillary action between the conformable material and one of the mold and the substrate. Thereafter, the conformable material is solidified. Specifically, the distance between the mold and the substrate is controlled to a sufficient degree to attenuate, if not avoid, compressive forces between the mold and the substrate. As a result, upon initial contact of the mold with the conformable material, capillary filling of the volume between the mold and the substrate occurs. | 06-16-2011 |
20110171340 | Template Having a Varying Thickness to Facilitate Expelling a Gas Positioned Between a Substrate and the Template - A nanoimprint lithography template including, inter alia, a body having first and second opposed sides with a first surface disposed on the first side, the second side having a recess disposed therein, the body having first and second regions with the second region surrounding the first region and the recess in superimposition with the first region, with a portion of the first surface in superimposition with the first region being spaced-apart from the second side a first distance and a portion of the first surface in superimposition with the second region being spaced-apart from the second side a second distance, with the second distance being greater than the first distance; and a mold disposed on the first side of the body in superimposition a portion of the first region. | 07-14-2011 |
20110180127 | SOLAR CELL FABRICATION BY NANOIMPRINT LITHOGRAPHY - Fabricating a solar cell stack includes forming a nanopatterned polymeric layer on a first surface of a silicon wafer and etching the first surface of the silicon wafer to transfer a pattern of the nanopatterned polymeric layer to the first surface of the silicon wafer. A layer of reflective electrode material is formed on a second surface of the silicon wafer. The nanopatterned first surface of the silicon wafer undergoes a buffered oxide etching. After the buffered oxide etching, the nanopatterned first surface of the silicon wafer is treated to decrease a contact angle of water on the nanopatterned first surface. Electron donor material is deposited on the nanopatterned first surface of the silicon wafer to form an electron donor layer, and a transparent electrode material is deposited on the electron donor layer to form a transparent electrode layer on the electron donor layer. | 07-28-2011 |
20110183521 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS OF MATERIAL REMOVAL AND PATTERN TRANSFER - Polymerized material on a substrate may be removed by exposure to vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) radiation from an energy source within a gaseous atmosphere of a controlled composition. Following such removal, additional etching techniques are also described for nano-imprinting. | 07-28-2011 |
20110190463 | NANOIMPRINT LITHOGRAPHY PROCESSES FOR FORMING NANOPARTICLES - A lithography method for forming nanoparticles includes patterning sacrificial material on a multilayer substrate. In some cases, the pattern is transferred to or into a removable layer of the multilayer substrate, and functional material is disposed on the removable layer of the multilayer substrate and solidified. At least a portion of the functional material is then removed to expose protrusions of the removable layer, and pillars of the functional material are released from the removable layer to yield nanoparticles. In other cases, the multilayer substrate includes the functional material, and the pattern is transferred to or into a removable layer of the multilayer substrate. The sacrificial layer is removed, and pillars of the functional material are released from the removable layer to yield nanoparticles. | 08-04-2011 |
20110212263 | Imprinting of Partial Fields at the Edge of the Wafer - Edge field patterning of a substrate having full fields and partial fields may include patterning using a template having multiple mesas with each mesa corresponding to a field on the substrate. Polymerizable material may be deposited solely between the template and the full fields of the substrate. A non-reactive material may be deposited between the template and partial fields of the substrate. | 09-01-2011 |
20110221095 | Step and Repeat Imprint Lithography Process - The present invention is directed to methods for patterning a substrate by imprint lithography. Imprint lithography is a process in which a liquid is dispensed onto a substrate. A template is brought into contact with the liquid and the liquid is cured. The cured liquid includes an imprint of any patterns formed in the template. In one embodiment, the imprint process is designed to imprint only a portion of the substrate. The remainder of the substrate is imprinted by moving the template to a different portion of the template and repeating the imprint lithography process. | 09-15-2011 |
20110260361 | SAFE DEPARATION FOR NANO IMPRINTING - Control of lateral strain and lateral strain ratio (d | 10-27-2011 |
20110277827 | NANOSTRUCTURED SOLAR CELL - Systems and methods for fabrication of nanostructured solar cells having arrays of nanostructures are described, including nanostructured solar cells having a repeating pattern of pyramid nanostructures, providing for low cost thin-film solar cells with improved PCE. | 11-17-2011 |
20110277833 | BACKSIDE CONTACT SOLAR CELL - Variations of interdigitated backside contact (IBC) solar cells having patterned areas formed using nano imprint lithography are described. | 11-17-2011 |
20120112385 | PATTERNING OF NON-CONVEX SHAPED NANOSTRUCTURES - Methods of making nano-scale structures with geometric cross-sections, including convex or non-convex cross-sections, are described. The approach may be used to directly pattern substrates and/or create imprint lithography templates or molds that may be subsequently used to directly replicate nano-shaped patterns into other substrates, such as into a functional or sacrificial resist to form functional nanoparticles. | 05-10-2012 |
20120114559 | NANOIMPRINT LITHOGRAPHY FORMATION OF FUNCTIONAL NANOPARTICLES USING DUAL RELEASE LAYERS - Functional nanoparticles may be formed using at least one nanoimprint lithography step. In one embodiment, sacrificial material may be patterned on a multilayer substrate including one or more functional layers between removable layers using an imprint lithography process. At least one of the functional layers includes a functional material such as a pharmaceutical composition or imaging agent. The pattern may be further etched into the multilayer substrate. At least a portion of the functional material may then be removed to provide a crown surface exposing pillars. Removing the removable layers releases the pillars from the patterned structure to form functional nanoparticles such as drug or imaging agent carriers. | 05-10-2012 |
20120187085 | 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. | 07-26-2012 |
20120214066 | High Aspect Ratio Patterning of Silicon - A silicon nanowire array including a multiplicity of silicon nanowires extending from a silicon substrate. Cross-sectional shape of the silicon nanowires and spacing between the silicon nanowires can be selected to maximize the ratio of the surface area of the silicon nanowires to the volume of the nanowire array. Methods of forming the silicon nanowire array include a nanoimprint lithography process to form a template for the silicon nanowire array and an electroless etching process to etch the template formed by the nanoimprint lithography process. | 08-23-2012 |
20130214452 | LARGE AREA IMPRINT LITHOGRAPHY - Methods and systems are provided for patterning polymerizable material dispensed on flexible substrates or flat substrates using imprint lithography techniques. Template replication methods and systems are also presented where patterns from a master are transferred to flexible substrates to form flexible film templates. Such flexible film templates are then used to pattern large area flat substrates. Contact between the imprint template and substrate can be initiated and propagated by relative translation between the template and the substrate. | 08-22-2013 |
20140021167 | 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. | 01-23-2014 |
20140100346 | NANOIMPRINT LITHOGRAPHY PROCESSES FOR FORMING NANOPARTICLES - A lithography method for forming nanoparticles includes patterning sacrificial material on a multilayer substrate. In some cases, the pattern is transferred to or into a removable layer of the multilayer substrate, and functional material is disposed on the removable layer of the multilayer substrate and solidified. At least a portion of the functional material is then removed to expose protrusions of the removable layer, and pillars of the functional material are released from the removable layer to yield nanoparticles. In other cases, the multilayer substrate includes the functional material, and the pattern is transferred to or into a removable layer of the multilayer substrate. The sacrificial layer is removed, and pillars of the functional material are released from the removable layer to yield nanoparticles. | 04-10-2014 |
20140319727 | PATTERNING OF NON-CONVEX SHAPED NANOSTRUCTURES - Methods of making nano-scale structures with geometric cross-sections, including convex or non-convex cross-sections, are described. The approach may be used to directly pattern substrates and/or create imprint lithography templates or molds that may be subsequently used to directly replicate nano-shaped patterns into other substrates, such as into a functional or sacrificial resist to form functional nanoparticles. | 10-30-2014 |
20150048050 | PROGRAMMABLE DEPOSITION OF THIN FILMS OF A USER-DEFINED PROFILE WITH NANOMETER SCALE ACCURACY - An inkjet-based process for programmable deposition of thin films of a user-defined profile. Drops of a pre-cursor liquid organic material are dispensed at various locations on a substrate by a multi-jet. A superstrate that has been bowed due to a backside pressure is brought down such that a first contact of the drops is made by a front side of the superstrate thereby initiating a liquid front that spreads outward merging with the drops to form a contiguous film captured between the substrate and the superstrate. A non-equilibrium transient state of the superstrate, the contiguous film and the substrate then occurs after a duration of time. The contiguous film is then cured to crosslink it into a polymer. The superstrate is then separated from the polymer thereby leaving a polymer film on the substrate. In such a manner, non-uniform films can be formed without significant material wastage in an inexpensive manner. | 02-19-2015 |