MX2008007071A - Method for expelling gas positioned between a substrate and a mold - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention is directed towards a method and a system of expelling a gas positioned between a substrate and a mold, the substrate and the mold further having a liquid positioned therebetween.

Description

METHOD FOR EXPULSING GAS PLACED BETWEEN A SUBSTRATE AND A MOLD FIELD OF THE INVENTION The field of the invention is generally related to nano-fabrication of structures. More particularly, the present invention is directed to a method and system for expelling gas placed between a substrate and a mold. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Nano-fabrication involves the manufacture of very small structures, for example having characteristics of the order of nanometers or less. One area in which nano-fabrication has had a considerable impact is in the processing of integrated circuits. As the semiconductor processing industry continues to struggle for higher production yields while increasing the circuits per unit area formed on a substrate, nano-fabrication becomes increasingly important. Nano-fabrication provides greater process control while allowing increased reduction of the minimum characteristic dimension of the structures formed. Other areas of development in which nano-fabrication has been employed include biotechnology, optical technology, mechanical systems and the like. Ref .: 192446 A nano-fabrication and emplificante technique is commonly referred to as print lithography. Printing lithography and filler processes are described in detail in numerous publications, such as U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2004/0065976 filed as U.S. Patent Application No. 10 / 264,960, entitled, "Method and a Mold. to Arrange Features on a Substrate to Replícate Features having Minimal Dimensional Variability "; US Patent Application Publication No. 2004/0065252 filed as United States Patent Application No. 10 / 264,926, entitled "Method of Forming a Layer on a Substrate to Facilitate Manufacturing of Metrolgy Standards"; and U.S. Patent No. 6,936,194, entitled "Functional Patterning Material for Imprint Lithography Processes," all of which are assigned to the assignee of the present invention. The fundamental printing lithography technique described in each of the aforementioned US Patent Application Publications and US Patent includes forming an embossed pattern in a polymerizable layer and transferring a corresponding pattern toward the relief pattern on an underlying substrate. The substrate can be placed under a movement stage to obtain a desired position to facilitate stamping thereof. For this purpose, a separate template is used substrate with a formable liquid present between the template and the substrate. The liquid solidifies to form a solidified layer having a pattern etched therein that conforms to a shape of the template surface in contact with the liquid. The template is then separated from the solidified layer such that the template and the substrate are separated. The substrate and the solidified layer are then subjected to processes for transferring, within the substrate, an embossed image corresponding to the pattern in the solidified layer. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION For this purpose, gases may be present between the template and the substrate and within the formable liquid which may result in, inter alia, pattern distortion of the solidified layer, low fidelity of features formed in the solidified layer , and a non-uniform thickness of a residual layer of the solidified layer, all of which is desirable. For this purpose, there is a need, therefore, to provide a method and system for expelling gas placed between a substrate and a mold. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES Fig. 1 is a simplified side view of a lithography system having a template separated from a substrate, the template is coupled to a template holding mandrel; Fig. 2 is a top down view showing an array of droplets of impression material placed over a region of the substrate shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a simplified side view of the substrate shown in Fig. 1, having a stamping layer placed thereon; Fig. 4 is a side view of the jig and template holding mandrel, both shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a bottom-up plan view of the template holding mandrel shown in Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is a flow chart showing a method for embossing a region of the substrate shown in Fig. 1, in a first embodiment; Fig. 7 is a side view of a mold coupled to the template shown in Fig. 1, with a mold shape and template being altered; Fig. 8 is a side view of the mold shown in Fig. 7, in contact with a portion of the droplets of the printing material shown in Fig. 2; Figs. 9-11 are top down views showing the compression of the droplets shown in Fig. 2, using the altered form of the template shown in Fig. 8; Fig. 12 is a top down view showing the compression of the droplets shown in Fig. 2, employing the altered form of the template shown in Fig. 8, in a further embodiment; Fig. 13 is a flow diagram showing a method for modeling a region of the substrate shown in Fig. 1, in a second embodiment; Fig. 14 is a side view of a mold coupled with the template shown in Fig. 1, separated from the substrate shown in Fig. 1; FIG. 15 is a side view of the template and the template holding mandrel, both shown in FIG. 1, in a further embodiment; Fig. 16 is an upward bottom plan view of the template holding mandrel shown in Fig. 15; Fig. 17 is an exploded view of a region of the template holding mandrel shown in Fig. 15; Fig. 18 is a side view of a mold coupled to the template shown in Fig. 1, with a shape of the mold and the template being altered; Fig. 19 is a side view of the substrate shown in Fig. 1, having a stamping layer placed on it having a substantially non-planar surface; Fig. 20 is a side view of the substrate shown in Fig. 1, having a stamping layer positioned on it having a substantially flat surface; Fig. 21 is a side view of the template shown in Fig. 1, with the shaped insole substantially conformed to the patterned layer; and Fig. 22 is a side view of the template shown in Fig. 1, in contact with a patterned layer placed on the substrate shown in Fig. 1, with the embossing layer having a surface substantially flat. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION With reference to FIG. 1, a system 10 for forming an embossed pattern on a substrate 12 includes a platform 14 on which the substrate 12 and a template 16 are supported. The template 16 may have a plateau 18 which extends from there to the substrate 12 with a surface for printing on it. In addition, the plateau 18 may be referred to as a mold 18. In a further embodiment, the template 16 may be substantially absent from the mold 18. In addition, the substrate 12 may be coupled to a substrate holding mandrel (not shown), the mandrel substrate clamping (not shown) with any clamping chuck including, but not limited to, vacuum and electromagnetic. The template 16 and / or mold 18 can be formed from such materials including, but not limited to, fused silica, quartz, silicon, organic polymers, siloxane polymers, borosilicate glass, polycarbonate polymers, metal, and sapphire hard. As shown, the embossing surface 20 comprises features defined by a plurality of spaced recesses 22 and protuberances 24. However, in a further embodiment, the embossing surface 20 may be substantially smooth and / or planar. The embossing surface 20 may define an original pattern that forms the base of a pattern to be formed on the substrate 12. The jig 16 may be attached to a template holding mandrel 28, the jig holding mandrel 28 is any mandrel of subject including, but not limited to, vacuum and electromagnetic. In addition, the template holding mandrel 28 can be coupled to a printhead 26 to facilitate movement of the template 16, and therefore, the mold 18. A system Fluid distribution 30 is coupled to selectively place itself in fluid communication with the substrate 12, to deposit polymeric material 32 thereon. The fluid distribution system 30 may comprise a plurality of distribution units therein. It should be understood that polymeric material 32 can be deposited using any known technique, e.g., drop distribution, coating by centrifugation, dip coating, chemical vapor deposition (CVD), physical vapor deposition (PVD), thin film deposition, thick film deposition, and the like. As shown in Fig. 2, the polymeric material 32 can be deposited on the substrate 12 as a plurality of separate droplets 34, defining a matrix array 36. In an example, each droplet of the droplets 34 can have a unit volume of approximately 1-10 pico-liters. The droplets 34 of array array 36 can be arranged in five columns C1-C5 and five rows r? -r5. However, the droplets 34 may be arranged in any bi-dimensional disposition on the substrate 12. An exemplary composition for polymeric material 32 is free of silicon and consists of the following: COMPOSITION 1 isobornyl acrylate n-exyl acrylate ethylene glycol diacrylate 2-hydroxy-2-methyl-1-phenyl-propan-1-one For this purpose, COMPOSITION 1 can be described in US Pat. No. 7,122,079 entitled "Composition for an Etching Mask Comprising a Silicon-Containing Material", which is incorporated for reference in this document. With reference to Fig. 1, to improve the release properties of the mold 18 and polymeric material 32 and to ensure that the polymeric material 32 does not adhere to the mold 18, an additive may be included in COMPOSITION 1. For this purpose, the polymeric material 32 may include, as an additive, a surfactant. For purposes of this invention, a surfactant is defined as any molecule, a tail of which is hydrophobic.

The surfactants may be any that contain fluorine, for example, include a fluorine chain, or may not include any fluorine in the molecule structure of the surfactant. An exemplary surfactant is available under the trade name ZONYL® FSO-100 from DUPONT ™ which has a general structure of R? R2 where R? = F (CF2CF2)?, Where Y is in a range of 1 to 7, inclusive and R2 = CH2CH20 (CH2CH0) XH, where X is in the range of 0 to 15, inclusive. This provides the polymeric material 24 with the following composition: COMPOSITION 2 isobornyl acrylate n -yl acrylate ethylene glycol diacrylate 2-hydroxy-2-methi1-1-pheny1-propan-1-one RfCH2CH20 (CH2CH20) XH, In a further embodiment, the exemplifying compositions from which form the polymeric material 32 are as follows: COMPOSITION 3 hydroxyl functional polysiloxane hexametoxymethylmelamine toluene sulphonic acid methyl amyl ketone COMPOSITION 4 hydroxyl functional polysiloxane hexametoxymethylmelamine gamma-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane Toluene sulphonic acid methyl amyl ketone. For this purpose, COMPOSITIONS 2-4 can also be described in U.S. Patent No. 7,122,079 entitled "Compositions for an Etching Mask Comprising a Silicon-Containing Material". With reference to Fig. 1, the system 10 further comprises an energy source 38 coupled to direct energy 40 along a path 42. The print head 26 and platform 14 are configured to arrange the mold 18 and the substrate 12, respectively, to be in superposition and arranged in the path 42. Either the print head 26, platform 14, or both vary a distance between the mold 18 and the substrate 12 to define a desired volume therebetween which is filled with material polymeric 32. With reference to Figs. 1 and 3, typically, the polymeric material 32 is disposed on the substrate 12 before the desired volume is defined between the mold 18 and the substrate 12. However, the polymeric material 32 can fill the volume after the desired volume has been obtained. desired volume. After the desired volume is filled with polymeric material 32, the source 38 produces energy 40, for example, broadband ultraviolet radiation which causes the polymeric material 32 to solidify and / or crosslink shaped to the shape of a surface 44 of the substrate 12 and stamping surface 20, defining a stamping layer 46 on the substrate 12. In one example, the energy 40 can have a wavelength in a range of about 240-420 nm. The embossing layer 46 may comprise a residual layer 48 and a plurality of features shown as protuberances 50 and recesses 52. Control of this process is regulated by a processor 54 that is in data communication with the platform 14, the print head 26, fluid distribution system 30, and source 38, operating in a computer readable program stored in memory 56. With reference to Figs. 4 and 5, the template holding mandrel 28 is adapted to retain the template 16 on which the mold 18 is fixed using vacuum techniques. As shown, the template holding mandrel 28 comprises a substantially circular shape. However, in a further embodiment, the template holding mandrel 28 may comprise any desired geometric shape. The template holding mandrel 28 includes the first 58 and second 60 opposite sides. A side surface, or edge 62, extends between the first side 58 and second side 60. The first side 58 includes a first recess 64 and a second recess 66, separated from the first recess 64, defining the first 68 and second 70 regions of separate support. The first support region 68 surrounds the second support region 70 and first 64 and second 66 recesses. The second support region 70 surrounds the second recess 66. In In a further embodiment, the first and second support regions 68 and 70 can be formed from a compatible material. A portion 72 of the template holding mandrel 28 in superposition with the second recess 66 may be transparent to radiation having a predetermined wavelength, such as the wavelength of the actinic radiation mentioned above. For this purpose, the portion 72 can be made of a thin layer of transparent material, such as glass. However, the material from which the portion 72 is manufactured may depend on the wavelength of radiation produced by the source 38, which is shown in Fig. 1. The portion 72 extends between the second side 60 and ends next to the second recess 66 and should define an area at least as long as an area of the mold 18 such that the mold 18 is in superposition therewith. Formed in the template holding mandrel 28 is an access 74, however, the template holding mandrel 28 can comprise any number of accesses. The access 74 places the first recess 64 in fluid communication with the side surface 62, however, in a further embodiment, it should be understood that the access 74 may place the first recess 64 in fluid communication with any surface of the clamping mandrel of the fluid. template 28. In still an additional mode, the clamping chuck of template 28 may comprise an access (not shown) that places the second recess 66 in fluid communication with any surface of the template holding mandrel 28. Additionally, what is desired is that access 74 facilitate putting the first recess 64 in fluid communication with a pressure control system, such as a pump system 76. With reference to Figs. 1, 4 and 5, the pump system 76 may include one or more pumps to control the pressure close to the first recess 64. Specifically, when mounted to the template holding mandrel 28, the template 18 rests against the first 68 and second 70 support regions, covering the first 64 and second 66 recesses. The first recess 64 and a portion 78 of the template 16 in superposition therewith define a first chamber 80. The second recess 66 and a portion 81 of the template 18 in superposition therewith define a second chamber 82. The pump system 76 operates to control the pressure in the first chamber 80. In a further embodiment, the pump system 76 can control the pressure in the second chamber 82. Specifically, the pressure in the first chamber 80 is established to maintain the position of the template 18 with the template holding mandrel 28 and reducing, but not preventing, the separation of the template 18 from the template holding mandrel 28 under gravity force. The pump system 76 may be in data communication with the processor 54, operating in the computer-readable program stored in the memory 56 to control the pump system 76. With reference to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, as mentioned above, a distance between the mold 18 and the substrate 12 is varied in such a way that a desired volume is defined between them which is filled with polymer material 32. Additionally, after solidification, the material polymeric 32 conforms to the surface form 44 of the substrate 12 and embossing surface 20, the embossing layer defining on the substrate 12. For this purpose, in a volume 84 defined between the droplets 34 of the array 36, there are gases present, and droplets 34 in matrix array 36 are spread on substrate 12 to prevent, if not prevent, entrapment of gas and / or gas bag between substrate 12 and mold 18 and within embossing layer 46 Gases and / or gas bags can be of such gases including, but not limited to air, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and helium. The gas and / or gas pockets between the substrate 12 and the mold 18 and inside the embossing layer 46 can result in, inter alia, pattern distortion of features formed in embossing layer 46, low fidelity of features formed in the printing layer 46, and a non-uniform thickness of residual layer 48 through embossing layer 46, all of which is undesirable. For For this purpose, a method and system for minimizing, if not preventing, entrapment of gas and / or gas pockets between the substrate 12 and the mold 18 and within the embossing layer 46 is described below. With reference to Figs. . 1 and 6, in a first embodiment, a method for expelling gas between the substrate 12 and the mold 18 is shown. More specifically, in step 90, as mentioned above, polymeric material 32 can be placed on the substrate 12 by distributing drop, spin coating, dip coating, chemical vapor deposition (CVD), physical vapor deposition (PVD), thin film deposition, thick film deposition, and the like. In a further embodiment, polymeric material 32 may be placed on the mold 18. With reference to Figs. 4, 6 and 7, in step 92, a form of template 16 and mold 18 can be altered in such a way that a distance di defined between the mold 18 and the substrate 12 in a sub-portion of the center of the mold 18 is smaller than a defined distance between the mold 18 and the substrate 12 in remaining portions of the mold 18. In one example, the distance di is less than a distance d2, the distance d2 being defined at one edge of the mold 18. In a further embodiment, the distance can be defined at any desired location of the mold 18. The shape of the template 16 and the mold 18 can be altered by controlling a pressure inside the first chamber 80. More specifically, as mentioned above, the pump system 76 operates to control the pressure in the first chamber 80. For this purpose, the pump system 76 can create a vacuum within the first chamber 80 via the access 74 in such a way that the portion 78 of the template 18 can bow away from the substrate 12 and arcs towards the template holding mandrel 28. As a result of the portion arched 78 of the template 18 away from the substrate 12, the portion 81 of the template 18 arcs towards the substrate 12 and away from the template holding mandrel 28. In one example, the arcuate portion 81 of the template 18 may be of the order 50 μm over 100 nm. With reference to Figs. 6, 8 and 9, in step 94, as described above with respect to Fig. 1, either the print head 26, shown in Fig. 1, the platform 14, or both, can vary the distance di, shown in Fig. 7, such that a sub-portion of the mold 18 contacts a sub-portion of droplets 34. As shown, a sub-portion of the center of the mold 18 contacts a sub-portion of the mold. portion of droplets 34 before the remaining portions of the mold 18 making contact with the remaining droplets of the droplets 34. However, in a further embodiment, any portion of the mold 18 may contacting the droplets 34 before the remaining portions of the mold 18. For this purpose, as shown, the mold 18 contacts all of the droplets 34 associated with the column c, shown in Fig. 2, substantially concurrently. This causes the droplets 34 to disperse and produce a contiguous liquid sheet 85 of polymeric material 32. The edges 86a and 86b of the liquid sheet 85 define liquid-gas interfaces 87a and 87b, respectively, which function to push gases in the liquid. the volume 84 towards the edges 88a, 88b, 88c and 88d. The volume 84 between the droplets 34 in the columns c? -c5 defines gas passages through which the gas can be expelled towards the edges 88a, 88b, 88c, and 88d. As a result, the liquid-gas interfaces 87a and 87b in combination with the gas passages, reduce, if not prevent, entrapment of gas in the liquid sheet 85. With reference to Figs. 4, 6, 8 and 10, in step 96, the form of template 16 and mold 18 can be altered in such a way that the desired volume that is defined between the mold 18 and the substrate 12 can be filled with polymeric material 32, as described above with respect to Fig. 1. More specifically, the shape of the template 16 and the mold 18 can be altered by the combination of controlling the pressure within the first chamber 80 and a force exerted by the print head 26, shown in Fig. 1, and / or platform 14 on template 16 and mold 18 as a result of the contact between the polymeric material 32 and the mold 18. More specifically, as mentioned above, the pump system 76 operates to control the pressure in the first chamber 80. For this purpose, the pump system 76 decreases a magnitude of the vacuum created within the first chamber 80 via the access 74 in such a way that the polymeric material 32 associated with subsequent subsets of droplets 34 in the columns c2 and c, which are shown in Fig. 2, are dispersed to be included in sheets of contiguous fluid 85. The shape of the template 16 and the mold 18 continues to be altered in such a way that the mold 18 subsequently comes into contact with the droplets 34 associated with the columns Ci and C5 in such a way that the associated polymeric material 32 with this it is dispersed to be included in the contiguous sheet 85, as shown in Fig. 11. As can be seen, the interfaces 87a and 87b have moved towards the edges 88a and 88c, respectively, of such that there is an unimpeded path for the gases in the remaining volume 84, shown in Fig. 9, to travel there. This allows gases in the volume 84, shown in Fig. 9, to come out from between the mold 18 and the substrate 12 relative to the edges 88a, 88b, 88c and 88d. In this way, entrapment of gas and / or gas pockets between the substrate 12 and the mold 18 and from inside the embossing layer 46, shown in Fig. 3, is minimized, if not avoid In a further embodiment, the shape of the template 16 and the mold 18 can be altered concurrently with the decrease in the distance di, as mentioned above with respect to Fig. 8. Additionally, it may be desired to balance the speed at which the polymeric material 32 fills the desired volume between the mold 18 and the substrate 12. More specifically, if the interfaces 87a and 87b propagate towards the edges 88a and 88b too quickly, gas pockets can be created between the mold 18 and the substrate 12, which is undesirable. For this purpose, in one example, the shape of the template 16 and the mold 18 can be altered in such a way that the polymeric material 32 fills the desired volume between the mold 18 and the substrate 12 at a speed of 100 mm in a few seconds. . Referring to Fig. 6, in step 98, as mentioned above with respect to Fig. 1, the polymeric material 32 can then be ground and / or crosslinked, defining the patterned layer 46, shown in Fig. 3. Subsequently, in step 99, the mold 18 can be separated from the patterned layer 46, shown in Fig. 3. With reference to Figs. 4 and 12, as described above, the shape of the template 16 and mold 18 can be altered along a first section. However, in a further embodiment, the shape of the template 16 and the mold 18 can be altered over a first address. However, in a further embodiment, the shape of the template 16 and the mold 18 can be altered concurrently in the first and second directions, with the second direction extending orthogonal to the first direction. More specifically, the template 16 and the mold 18 can be altered in such a way that a sub-portion of the center of the mold 18 contacts a sub-portion of droplets 34 before the remaining portions of the mold 18 come into contact with the droplets. of the droplets 34, as described above with respect to FIG. 9. This causes the droplets 34 to disperse and produces the contiguous liquid sheet 85 of polymeric material 32, defining the continuous liquid-gas interface 87 that functions for pushing the gases in volume 84 outwards radially. In one example, the liquid sheet 85 can have a circular or circular-like expansion of the liquid gas interface 87 to push the gases in the volume 84 toward the edges 88a, 88b, 88c, and 88d outwardly radially. However, in a further embodiment, the shape of the template 16 and the mold 18 can be altered in any direction to produce the liquid sheet 85 with any desired geometric shape to facilitate pushing the gases in the volume 84 toward the edges 88a, 88b , 88c and 88d outwardly radially to minimize, if not prevent, entrapment of gas and / or gas pockets between the substrate 12 and the mold 18 and within of the embossing layer 46. With reference to Fig. 13, a further embodiment of the present invention is shown. More specifically, in step 100, analogous to the above mentioned with respect to the step 90 shown in Fig. 6, the polymer material 32 can be placed on the substrate 12 or mold 18. With reference to Figs. 13 and 14, in step 102, the mold 18 and the substrate 12 are positioned in such a way that a distance d3 is defined between them. The print head 26, shown in Fig. 1, the platform 14, or both can place the mold 18 and the substrate 12 to obtain the distance d3 between the substrate 12 and the mold 18. In a further embodiment, the mold 18 may extend in a first plane and substrate 12 may extend in a second plane, with the first and second planes being substantially parallel. In one example, the distance d3 can have a magnitude in a range of 5-50 microns. The distance d3 is defined such that under alteration of the shape of the template 16 and the mold 18, a sub-portion of the mold 18 contacts a sub-portion of droplets 34, described further below. With reference to Figs. 8 and 13, in step 104, the shape of the template 16 and the mold 18 can be altered in such a way that a sub-portion of the center of the mold 18 makes contact with a sub-portion of droplets 34 prior to the remaining portions of the mold 18 in contact with the remaining droplets of the droplets 34. However, in a further embodiment, any portion of the mold 18 may contact the droplets 34 prior to the remaining portions of the mold 18. For this purpose, analogous to that mentioned above with respect to Fig. 9, the mold 18 makes contact with all the droplets 34 associated with the column c3, which is shown in Fig. 2, substantially concurrently This causes the droplets 34 to disperse and produce a contiguous liquid sheet 85 of polymer material 32. The edges 86a and 86b of the liquid sheet 85 define the liquid-gas interfaces 87a and 87b, respectively, which operates to push gases in the liquid. the volume 84 towards the edges 88a, 88b, 88c and 88d. The volume 84 between the droplets 34 in the columns C? -c5 define the gas passages through which the gas can be pushed towards the edges 88a, 88b, 88c and 88d. As a result, the liquid-gas interfaces 87a and 87b in combination with the gas passages reduce, if not prevent, entrapment of gas in the liquid sheet 85. Furthermore, after contact of the droplets 34 associated with the column c3 with the mold 18, the shape of the template 16 and the mold 18 can be further altered in such a way that the desired volume defined between the mold 18 and the substrate 12 can be filled with polymeric material, such as it was described above with respect to Fig. 1. More specifically, analogous to that mentioned above with respect to Figs. 10-12, the shape of the template 16 and the mold 18 can be altered by the combination of controlling the pressure within the first chamber 80 and a force exerted by the print head 26 and / or platform 12 on the template 16 and the mold 18 as a result of the contact between the polymer material 32 and the mold 18. More specifically, as mentioned above, the pump system 76 operates to control the pressure in the first chamber 80. For this purpose, the pump system 76 decreases a magnitude of the vacuum created within the first chamber 80 via the access 74 in such a manner that the polymeric material 32 associated with subsequent subsets of droplets 34 in the columns c2 and c, shown in Fig. 2, is dispersed to included in the contiguous fluid sheet 85, as shown in Fig. 10. The shape of the template 16 and the mold 18 continues to be altered in such a way that the mold 18 subsequently comes into contact with the associated drops 34. with the columns Ci and c5 such that the polymer material 32 associated therewith is spread to be included in the liquid sheet 85, as shown in Fig. 11. As can be seen, the interfaces 87a and 87b have been moved. towards the edges 88a and 88b, respectively, in such a way that there is an unimpeded path for the gases in the remaining volume 84, which is shown in Fig. 9, to travel there. This allows the gases in the volume 84, shown in Fig. 9, to come out from between the mold 18 and the substrate 12 with respect to the edges 88a, 88b, 88c and 88d. In this manner, entrapment of gas and / or gas pockets between the substrate 12 and the mold 18 and within the embossing layer 46, which is shown in Fig. 3, is minimized, if not avoided. In a further embodiment, the shape of the template 16 and the mold 18 can be altered concurrently with decreasing distance d, as mentioned above with respect to Fig. 8. With reference to Fig. 13, in step 106, as mentioned above with respect to Fig. 1, the polymeric material 32 can then be solidified and / or crosslinked, defining the patterned layer 46, which is shown in Fig. 3. Subsequently, in the step 108, the mold 18 can separating from the patterned layer 46, which is shown in Fig. 3. In a further embodiment, the substrate 12 can be subjected to the aforementioned processes in such a way that a form of the substrate can be altered or minimized, if not prevented, entrapment of the substrate. Gas and / or gas pockets between the substrate 12 and the mold 18 and within the stamped layer 46. In addition, the template 16, the mold 18, and the substrate 12 can be subjected to the processes mentioned above concurrently.

With reference to Figs. 15 and 16, a second embodiment of the template holding mandrel 28 is shown. More specifically, analogous to the template holding mandrel 28 mentioned above with respect to FIG. 4, the template holding mandrel 128 includes the first 158 and second 160 opposite sides. One side, or edge, surface 162 extends between the first side 158 and second side 160. As shown, the template holding mandrel 128 comprises a substantially circular shape. However, in a further embodiment, the template holding mandrel 128 may comprise any desired geometric shape. The first side 158 includes a first recess 164 and a second recess 166, separated from the first recess 164, the first 168 and second 170 defining separate support regions. The first support region 168 surrounds the second support region 170 and the first 164 and second recesses 166. The second support region 170 surrounds the second recess 166. In a further embodiment, the first and second support regions 168 and 170 may be formed of a compatible material. A portion 172 of the template holding mandrel 128 in superposition with the second recess 166 may be transparent to radiation having a predetermined wavelength, such as the wavelength of the actinic radiation mentioned above. For this purpose, the portion 172 can be made of a thin layer of material transparent, such as glass. However, the material from which the portion 172 is manufactured may depend on the production radiation wavelength by the source 38, which is shown in Fig. 1. The portion 172 extends between the second side 160 and ends close to the second recess 166 and should define an area at least as long an area of the mold 18 so that the mold 18 is in superposition therewith. With reference to Figs. 15, 16 and 17, the template holding mandrel 128 further includes a plurality of pins 186 projecting from a lower surface 188 of the first recess 164. The pins 186 provide mechanical support for the template 16 retained on the holding mandrel. of template 128 via vacuum. The pins 186 are typically rigid posts having a circular cross section. However, in a further embodiment, the pins 186 may have a desired geometric shape. With reference to Fig. 15, formed in a template holding mandrel 128 are the ports 174a and 174b, however, the template holding mandrel 128 may comprise any number of accesses. The access 174a places the first recess 164 in fluid communication with the lateral surface 162, however, in a further embodiment, it should be understood that the access 174a may placing the first recess 164 in fluid communication with any surface of the template holding mandrel 128. The access 174b places the second recess 166 in fluid communication with the second side 160, however, in a further embodiment, it should be understood that the access 174b can place the second recess 166 in fluid communication with any surface of the template holding mandrel 128. Furthermore, it is desired that the accesses 174a and 174b facilitate the positioning of the first recess 164 and the second recess 166, respectively , in fluid communication with a pressure control system, such as a pump system 176. With reference to Figs. 15 and 16, the pump system 176 may include one or more pumps for controlling the pressure close to the first recess 164 and second recess 166. Specifically, when mounted to the template holding mandrel 128, the template 16 rests against the first 168 and second 170 support regions, covering the first 164 and second 166 recesses. The first recess 164 and a portion 178 of the template 116 in superposition therewith define a first chamber 180. The second recess 166 and a portion 181 of the template 16 in superposition therewith define a second chamber 182. The pump system 176 operates to control a pressure in the first and second chambers 180 and 182. Specifically, the pressure is established in the first and second chambers 180 and 182 to maintain the position of the template 16 with the template holding mandrel 128 and reduce, if not prevent, separation of the template 16 from the template holding mandrel 128 and reduce, if not prevent, separation of the template 16 of the template holding mandrel 128 under the force of gravity. To that end, the template holding mandrel 128 further comprises compatible seal 190 positioned adjacent to the second support region 170 to isolate the first chamber 180 from the second chamber 182 to facilitate obtaining a desired pressure and / or vacuum within the first and second chambers 180 and 182. For this purpose, the pump system 176 can create a pressure within the second chamber 182 such that the portion 181 of the jig 18 can bow towards the substrate 12 and bow away from the chuck chuck. of template 128, as shown in Fig. 17. Template holding mandrel 128 can be employed in any of the aforementioned methods in relation to minimizing, if not preventing entrapment of gas and / or gas pockets between the substrate 12 and the mold 18 and inside the embossing layer 46, which is shown in Fig. 3. With respect to Figs. 1 and 3, further still, in addition to minimizing, if not preventing entrapment of gas and / or gas pockets between the substrate 12 and the mold 18 and within the embossing layer 46, it may also be desirable for the layer residual 48 be substantially uniform. More specifically, it may be desired that the residual layer 48 have a substantially uniform height hx defined through the patterned layer 46. For this purpose, to obtain the residual layer 48 having a substantially uniform height hi, the desired volume defined between the mold 18 and the substrate 12 can be filled by capillary forces of polymeric material 32, as described in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0061773, filed as U.S. Patent Application No. 10 / 645,306, entitled "Capillary Printing Technique ", which is incorporated for reference in this document. More specifically, when the unit volume of each droplet of the droplets 34 is controlled in such a way that from the residual layer 48 is in the range of a few nanometers to a few microns, each droplet of the droplets 34 can be dispersed to the regions adjacent thereto in a few seconds or faster, and thus, the height h of the residual layer may be substantially uniform over the patterned layer 46. A thickness ti of the insole 16 and the mold 18 may additionally facilitate obtaining a height substantially uniform hi of the residual layer 48. More specifically, the thickness ti of the template 16 and the mold 18 can have a magnitude such that a stiffness of Template and mold flexure 18 can be balanced with the aforementioned capillary forces of polymeric material 32 to facilitate obtaining a substantially uniform height hi of the residual layer 48. More specifically, the flexural stiffness of the insole 16 and the mole 18 is a function cubic of it. For this purpose, where the thickness th is too thick, the thickness h of the residual layer 48 could be substantially non-uniform; however where the thickness ti of the template 16 and the mold 18 is too thin, a local defect between the droplets 34, which is shown in Fig. 2, may result in a plurality of non-uniform localized perturbations in the thickness hx of the residual layer 48. Therefore, ti of the template 16 and the mold 18 can be in the range of 100 μm-2mm in the presence of a few microns of off-plane variation in the template 16 and / substrate 12. The thickness ti of the template 16 and the mold 18 can have a magnitude such that variations are minimized, if not avoided, between the height hi of the residual layer 48 due to the non-planar surface of the template 16 and the mold 18 , while having a magnitude to minimize, if not avoid, producing undesirable local variations between the height hi of the residual layer 48 due to deformations of the template 16 and mold 18 resulting from fluid pressure within the first and second chambers 80 and 82, which shown in Fig. 4. However, the thickness magnitude ti should also facilitate the manipulation of the template 16 and mold 18 by the system 10 and separation thereof from the patterned layer 46. Additional dwarf mode, a thickness t2 of the substrate 12 may have a magnitude in the manner described above with respect to the thickness ti of the jig 16 and mold 18. With reference to Figs. 1 and 19, substrate 12 is shown comprising protuberances 192 and protuberance 194. A thickness zi is defined between protrusion 192 and surface 196 of embossed layer 146 and a thickness z2 is defined between protrusion 194 and surface 196. As shown, the thickness z2 is greater than zi. This may result from placing polymeric fluid 32 on the substrate 12 by spin coating, and thus, the embossed layer 146 may tend to curve to the surface topology of the substrate 12, resulting in local film thickness variations between the printed layer 146 , which is undesirable. For this purpose, the aforementioned methods can be employed in planarizing the polymer fluid 32 on the substrate 12 such that the embossed layer 146 is substantially planar, as shown in Fig. 20. More specifically, employing the template 16 and the mold 18 having an arcuate shape, as mentioned above, can facilitate that the patterned layer 146 have a substantially flat shape. For this purpose, as shown in Fig. 20, the thickness z2 is substantially the same as the thickness zi, which is desirable. In one example, the protuberances 192 may be less than 200 nm wide while the protrusion 194 may be of the order of 50 microns-100 microns wide. With reference to Fig. 21, to facilitate surface planarization 196 of embossed layer 146, stencil 216 can be employed having a predetermined thickness such that under contact with embossed layer 146 and / or substrate 12, stencil 216 may not conform to it For this purpose, as shown, the template 216 has a thickness xi. However, the thickness xi of the template 216 facilitates that the template 216 conforms to the embossed layer 146 in the presence of a long spatial corrugation. Such a uniform layer can be used to form a water etching mask to reverse the tone characteristics, as described in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2004/0188381, filed as US Patent Application No. 10 / 396,615, entitled "Positive Tone Bi-Layer Imprint Lithography Method", which is incorporated for reference herein. For this purpose, the template 216 can have a thickness x, as shown in Fig. 22, which does not conform to the patterned layer 146 or substrate 12. defined thickness x between a surface 198 of the template 216 and the surface 196 of the embossed layer 146 at a first location differs from a thickness a defined between the surface 198 and the surface 196 at a second location, which differs from the first location. As a result, the surface 196 of the embossed layer 146 is substantially planar. In one example, the thickness x2 of the template 216 can be 6.25 mm. The embodiments of the present invention described above are exemplary. Many changes and modifications can be made to the description cited above, while remaining within the scope of the invention. Therefore, the scope of the invention should not be limited by the foregoing description, but should instead be determined with reference to the appended claims together with their full scope of equivalents. It is noted that in relation to this date the best method known by the applicant to carry out the aforementioned invention is that which is clear from the present description of the invention.

Claims (19)

1. CLAIMS Having described the invention as above, the contents of the following claims are claimed as property: 1. Method for expelling gas placed between a substrate and a mold assembly, the substrate and the mold assembly also have a liquid placed between them, characterized because it comprises the steps of: placing the mold assembly and the substrate in such a way that the mold assembly is close to the substrate, the mold assembly has a first region and a second region; altering a shape of the mold assembly by arching the first region away from the substrate such that the second region arcs towards the substrate to decrease a defined space between the second region of the mold assembly and the substrate; and contacting a sub-portion of the liquid with the second region of the mold assembly such that gas is expelled from between the substrate and the mold assembly and the liquid fills a defined volume between the mold assembly and the substrate .
2. 2. The method of compliance with the claim 1, characterized in that the step of altering the shape additionally comprises a step of creating a pressure differential between a first chamber defined between a portion of a clamping mandrel coupled to the mold assembly and the first region of the mold assembly and a second chamber defined between a portion of the clamping mandrel and the second region of the mold assembly.
3. 3. The method of compliance with the claim 1, characterized in that the step of altering the form further comprises a step of subjecting a defined chamber between a portion of a clamping mandrel coupled to the mold assembly and the first region of the vacuum mold assembly. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the step of contacting the sub-portion further comprises a step of contacting a region of the center of the liquid with the mold assembly. 5. The method of compliance with the claim 1, characterized in that a contact time magnitude between the mold assembly and the layer is selected to minimize a uniformity of a layer formed of liquid. 6. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises the step of impacting actinic energy on the liquid to solidify it. 7. A method for expelling a gas placed between a substrate and a mold assembly, the substrate and the mold assembly also have a liquid placed between them, characterized in that it comprises the steps of: placing the mold assembly and the substrate in such a way that the mold assembly is separated from the substrate a distance, the mold has a first and a second region; and altering a shape of the mold assembly by arching the first region away from the substrate such that the second region arcs toward the substrate and the second region contacts a sub-portion of the liquid to expel the gas from between the substrate and the substrate. Mold assembly in such a way that the liquid fills a defined volume between the mold assembly and the substrate. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that the step of altering the form further comprises a step of creating a differential pressure between a first chamber defined between a portion of a clamping mandrel coupled to the mold assembly and the first region of the mold assembly and a second chamber defined between a portion of the clamping mandrel and the second region of the mold assembly. 9. The method of compliance with the claim 7, characterized in that the step of altering the form further comprises a step of subjecting a defined chamber between a portion of a clamping mandrel coupled to the mold assembly and the first region of the vacuum mold assembly. 10. The method of compliance with the claim 7, characterized in that the step of altering the form further comprises a step of contacting a region of the center of the liquid with the mold assembly. 11. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that a contact time magnitude between the mold assembly and the layer is selected to maximize a uniformity of a layer formed of liquid. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that it comprises the step of impacting actinic energy on the liquid to solidify it. A system for altering a shape of a mold assembly, characterized in that it comprises: a clamping mandrel body having the first and second opposite sides, the first side includes the first and second spaced apart recesses defining the first and second regions of separate support, with the first support region surrounding the second support region and the first and second recesses, and the second support region surrounding the second recess, and a fluid channel extending through the body of the holding mandrel towards the first recess; a mold assembly coupled to the first side of the body of the clamping mandrel, with a portion of the mold in superposition with the first recess defining a first chamber and a portion of the mold in superposition with the second recess defining a second chamber; and a system of pressure control coupled to the body of the clamping mandrel to apply a vacuum pressure in the first chamber through the fluid channel to arc the first portion of the mold assembly towards the body of the clamping mandrel in such a manner that the second portion of the Mold assembly arches away from the body of the chuck chuck. The system according to claim 13, characterized in that the first recess further comprises a plurality of spaced pins extending therefrom. The system according to claim 13, characterized in that a portion of the body of the clamping mandrel in superposition with the second recess is transparent to radiation having a predetermined wavelength. 16. The system according to claim 13, characterized in that it also comprises a compatible seal placed adjacent to the second support region to isolate the first chamber from the second chamber. 17. The system in accordance with the claim 13, characterized in that each of the first and second support regions has a support surface associated therewith, oriented away from the second surface, with the support surface formed of a material adapted to conform to a profile of the mold assembly. 18. The system according to claim 13, characterized in that it also includes an additional fluid channel that extends through the body of the clamping mandrel to the second recess to place the pressure control system in fluid communication with the second chamber. 19. The system according to claim 13, characterized in that the mold assembly further comprises a plurality of protuberances and recesses.