JP5327421B2 - Stamper for imprint - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a stamper for imprinting such that an operator easily recognizes a direction of setting stamper to a transfer device inexpensively. <P>SOLUTION: The stamper 100 for imprinting has a first surface 110 having an uneven pattern portion 130 and a second surface 120 opposed to the first surface 110, and a notch portion 111 is provided at least at one of four corners of the first surface 110. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an imprint stamper that transfers a predetermined pattern shape by being pressed against a resin material.

  Conventionally, a photolithography method that optically transfers a pattern has been used to form a pattern that requires fine processing, such as a semiconductor device manufacturing process. A photomask used as a master when projecting and exposing a semiconductor circuit onto a wafer has a structure in which a light-shielding pattern made of a metal such as Cr (chromium) is formed on one side of a glass substrate. By irradiating light from the back surface of the photomask and selectively exposing the resist in the light transmitting portion, the pattern of the photomask is transferred to the sensitive substrate.

  However, in the pattern formation method of the photolithography method, the size and shape of the pattern to be formed greatly depend on the wavelength of light to be exposed. For example, in the manufacture of advanced semiconductor devices in recent years, the exposure wavelength used for photolithography is 150 nm or more, while the minimum line width is 65 nm or less, reaching the resolution limit due to the light diffraction phenomenon. For this reason, in order to increase the resolution of the resist, super-resolution techniques such as proximity correction (OPC), phase shift mask, and modified illumination are used. It has become difficult to transfer faithfully.

Thus, in recent years, imprint processing technology (nanoimprint lithography technology) has attracted attention as a method for producing a fine structure having a wavelength equal to or less than the wavelength of light. In this technique, a stamper for imprinting (also called a stamp, mold, or the like) in which a predetermined fine uneven pattern has been formed in advance by electron beam lithography or the like is manufactured, and a stamper is pressed onto a resist-coated substrate. This is a technique for transferring irregularities. According to such an imprint processing technique, the time required for one process is very short compared to electron beam lithography or focused ion beam lithography, for example, in a region of 1 square inch or more. is there. Such a nanoimprint lithography technique is described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-266384.
JP 2007-266384 A

  In the imprint process as described above, the imprint stamper is set in a transfer transfer device, and the surface on which the fine uneven pattern of the stamper is formed is provided on the upper surface of a substrate such as silicon, glass, or ceramic. It is pressed against a molding layer using a resist made of an ultraviolet curable resin or the like.

  However, the imprint stamper is made of synthetic quartz glass or the like, and the uneven pattern formed on this synthetic quartz glass is very fine. There is a problem that it is very difficult to determine in which direction to set the transfer device. In order to solve this problem, there is a method of forming characters formed with a diffraction grating on an imprint stamper so that the operator can visually recognize the setting direction to the transfer device. However, this method is expensive.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, have a concave-convex pattern, the first surface and, in this first surface facing the second reference surface is completely flat with a first reference surface In an imprint stamper that is set in a transfer device by being vacuum-sucked on the second surface side, at least one of the four corners of the first surface is attached to the second surface. A notch that does not extend is provided, and a mesa portion having a predetermined height from the first reference surface is formed on the first surface, and the mounting direction to the transfer device can be visually recognized by the notch. It is characterized by being.

The invention according to claim 2 is the imprint stamper according to claim 1 , wherein the concave-convex pattern is formed in the mesa portion.

  According to the configuration of the present invention, it is possible to provide an imprint stamper that allows an operator to easily visually recognize the direction in which the operator sets the transfer device without incurring costs.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the entire imprint stamper according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 100 is an imprint stamper, 110 is a first surface, 111 is a notch portion, 112 is a mesa portion, 120 is a second surface, and 130 is an uneven pattern portion.

  The imprint stamper 100 of the present invention includes various products such as semiconductor devices, optical components such as optical waveguides and diffraction gratings, recording devices such as hard disks and DVDs, biochips such as DNA analysis, and displays such as diffusion plates and light guide plates. In this manufacturing process, it can be used when performing pattern formation using an imprint processing method.

  Such an imprint stamper 100 can be made of metal such as silicon, nickel, chromium, iron, tantalum, and tungsten, and oxides, nitrides, and carbides thereof. In the present embodiment, the imprint stamper 100 is described as using a synthetic quartz glass substrate. For example, the thickness of such an imprint stamper 100 can be 6.35 mm.

  The imprint stamper 100 has a first surface 110 on which a fine concavo-convex pattern that plays a role when pressed against a resist made of an ultraviolet curable resin or the like, and a second surface that is a surface attached to the transfer device. 120. The depth of the concave portion relative to the convex portion in such an uneven pattern can be about 100 nm.

  Each of the first surface 110 and the second surface 120 has a first reference surface and a second reference surface as shown in FIG. The second reference surface is a perfect plane, but a mesa portion 112 that is a trapezoidal portion having a height d is formed on the first reference surface of the first surface 110. The height of the mesa portion 112 from the first reference plane is about 15 μm.

  A notch 111 is formed at any one of the four corners of the first surface 110. With such a notch portion 111 and the mesa portion 112, an operator can visually grasp how to set the imprint stamper 100 in the transfer device. Further, the notch portion 111 and the mesa portion 112 do not form a diffraction grating or the like, and thus can be formed at low cost.

  In the illustrated example, the notch 111 is provided at one of the four corners of the first surface 110, but may be provided at two or three. Further, the type of the imprint stamper 100 may be visually recognized by changing the location where the notch portion 111 is provided for each imprint stamper 100.

  In addition, the notch 111 allows the operator to grasp the front and back of the imprint stamper 100 and the top and bottom that define the directionality to be set on the transfer device.

  Next, a schematic configuration of a transfer apparatus in which the imprint stamper 100 of the present invention is set at the time of transfer will be described. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a transfer apparatus using the imprint stamper according to the embodiment of the present invention.

    In FIG. 2, reference numeral 200 denotes an article to be molded, 201 denotes a substrate, 202 denotes a layer to be molded, 300 denotes a movable table, 401 denotes a stamper mounting portion, and 411 and 412 denote exhaust pipes.

  The molded product (molded object) 200 includes, for example, a number of molded layers (molding materials) 202 using a resist made of an ultraviolet curable resin or the like on the upper surface of a substrate 201 made of an appropriate material such as silicon, glass, or ceramic. It is the structure provided with the thin film apply | coated to the thickness of 10 nm-several micrometers.

  The movable table 300 is an XY table or the like that can move in the X and Y directions (front and rear, left and right directions in the drawing), and is configured to be able to position the molded product 200 placed on the upper part with fine adjustment. The movable table 300 can use, for example, a known configuration guided by a linear guide and a slider and driven by a servo motor.

  The space R including the stamper mounting portion 401 in the transfer device is evacuated by exhaust pipes 411 and 412 to which a vacuum pump (not shown) is connected, and vacuum-sucks the second surface 120 side of the imprint stamper 100. It is like that. Thus, since the transfer device is configured to vacuum-suck the second surface side of the imprint stamper 100, the notch portion 111 and the mesa portion 112 are provided on the first surface 110 side. It is devised so that it does not become an obstacle such as air leakage.

  The imprint stamper 100 set by vacuum suction as described above on the stamper mounting portion 401 of the transfer apparatus is movable up and down by a drive mechanism (not shown) of the transfer apparatus. Is lowered, the uneven pattern portion 130 presses the molding layer 202 of the molding product 200. Further, along with this, the pattern shape of the concavo-convex pattern portion 130 is formed on the molding layer 202 by curing the resist made of ultraviolet curable resin or the like that forms the molding layer 202 by being irradiated with ultraviolet rays from a light source (not shown). It is designed to be transcribed.

  According to the configuration as described above, it is possible to provide an imprint stamper in which an operator can easily recognize the direction in which the operator sets the transfer device without incurring costs.

It is a figure which shows perspectively the whole imprint stamper which concerns on embodiment of this invention. 1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a transfer device in which an imprint stamper according to an embodiment of the present invention is used.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Stamper for imprint, 110 ... 1st surface, 111 ... Notch part, 112 ... Mesa part, 120 ... 2nd surface, 130 ... Uneven pattern part, 200 ... · Articles to be molded, 201 ··· substrate, 202 ··· Molded layer, 300 ··· movable table, 401 · · · stamper mounting portion, 411 and 412 · · · exhaust pipe

Claims (2)

Have a concavo-convex pattern, a first surface having a first reference plane, and the first surface and the opposite, have a second surface having a second reference surface is perfectly flat, vacuum at the second surface side In the imprint stamper set in the transfer device by being absorbed ,
At least one of the four corners of the first surface is provided with a notch that does not extend to the second surface;
A mesa portion having a predetermined height from the first reference surface is formed on the first surface ,
The imprint stamper characterized in that the mounting direction to the transfer device can be visually recognized by the notch . The imprint stamper according to claim 1, wherein the uneven pattern is formed in the mesa portion.

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