WO2013012208A2

WO2013012208A2 - Base nano-mold and method of manufacturing nano-mold using the same

Info

Publication number: WO2013012208A2
Application number: PCT/KR2012/005563
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jin Su Kim; Kyoung Jong Yoo; Young Jae Lee; Jun Lee
Original assignee: Lg Innotek Co., Ltd.
Priority date: 2011-07-15
Filing date: 2012-07-13
Publication date: 2013-01-24
Also published as: KR20130009235A; CN103649794A; KR101795045B1; TW201314279A; WO2013012208A3; TWI500979B

Abstract

Provided are a base nano-mold and a method of manufacturing a nano-mold using the same. The base nano-mold includes a mold grid layer formed with at least one first grid pattern, and at least one second grid pattern formed on the first grid pattern. A nano-mold is manufactured by coating and curing a resin on the base nano-mold, such that manufacturing costs required for manufacturing a nano-mold can be reduced, and the nano-mold with an improved aspect ratio can be manufactured while improving an efficiency of the process.

Description

BASE NANO-MOLD AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING NANO-MOLD USING THE SAME

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2011-0070186 filed on July 15, 2011, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

Embodiments of the inventive concept relate to the field of nano-mold manufacturing technology, and in particular, to a base nano-mold and a method of manufacturing a nano-mold using the same.

A polarizer or polarization element is an optical element that derives a linear polarization with specific vibration from non-polarized light such as natural light. Typically, when a cycle of a metal line arrangement is shorter than a half-wavelength of an incident electromagnetic wave, polarization components (s-waves) parallel to a metal line are reflected and polarization components (p-waves) perpendicular to the metal line are transmitted. When such a phenomenon is used, a planer polarizer in which polarization efficiency is excellent, transmittance is high, and a viewing angle is large may be manufactured. Such an element is called a line grid polarizer or a wire grid polarizer.

Recently, technologies for manufacturing the wire grid polarizer described above using a nano imprint process have been proposed.

The nano imprint process is a technology for forming a nano-scale pattern in the form of an imprint using a mold, and can be used to form a grid pattern through a relatively simple process compared to a conventional photo-lithography process. In addition, when the grid pattern is formed using a mold having a nano-scale width, since the nano imprint process can be used to form a nano-scale grid pattern that may not be implemented by photolithography, there are advantages in that productivity can be improved and manufacturing costs can be reduced.

In order to form the grid pattern using such a nano-imprint process, first, a mold with a pattern of a desired shape should be manufactured. Currently, as a method of manufacturing a mold with a nano-scale line width, a method such as beam lithography described in Korean Patent No. 10-0670835 is mainly used. In this method, the nano-scale line width is difficult to implement and the method has disadvantages in that efficiency is low and high cost is required. In addition, if there is a need to increase a height of the pattern formed on the mold, there is a disadvantage in that the mold should be manufactured again.

An aspect of the present invention provides a base nano-mold and a method of manufacturing a nano-mold using the same. The base nano-mold includes a mold grid layer formed with at least one first grid pattern, and at least one second grid pattern formed on the first grid pattern. A nano-mold is manufactured by coating and curing a resin on the base nano-mold, such that the nano-mold with a high aspect ratio can be manufactured by a simple method.

In accordance with an aspect of the inventive concept, a base nano-mold is provided. The base nano-mold includes a mold grid layer formed with at least one first grid pattern and at least one second grid pattern formed on the first grid pattern.

The first grid pattern may be made of at least one material of a metal, silicon, and polymer.

The first grid pattern may have a moth-eye structure.

The first grid pattern may have a cross-sectional shape including at least one of a triangular shape, a trapezoidal shape, a rectangular shape and a semicircular shape.

The second grid pattern may be formed of a metal or a metal oxide.

The base nano-mold may further include a complementary layer formed on a portion or all of a surface of the second grid pattern.

In accordance with another aspect of the inventive concept, a method of manufacturing a nano-mold is provided. The method of manufacturing a nano-mold includes preparing a mold grid layer including a plurality of first grid patterns, forming a second grid pattern on an upper portion of the first grid pattern, and forming a nano-mold by coating a resin on an upper portion of the second grid pattern.

The first grid pattern may have a moth-eye structure.

The first grid pattern may have a cross-sectional shape including at least one of a triangular shape, a rectangular shape, a trapezoidal shape, and a semicircular shape.

Forming the second grid pattern may include forming a second grid base layer by depositing a second grid pattern material on the first grid pattern, and forming a second grid pattern by etching a region corresponding to a space between the first grid patterns in the second grid base layer.

The second grid pattern material may include a metal or a metal oxide.

The second grid pattern material may be deposited by at least one of a sputtering method, a chemical vapor deposition method and an evaporation method.

Forming the nano-mold may include forming a nano-mold resin layer having a structure in which the first grid pattern and the second grid pattern are buried, by coating a resin on the second grid pattern, curing the nano-mold resin layer, and separating the nano-mold resin layer from the first grid pattern and the second grid pattern.

Coating a resin on the second grid pattern may be performed by at least one of a spin coating method, a die coating method, a roll coating method and a dip coating method.

The resin may be a photocurable resin, and curing the nano-mold resin layer may include curing the resin by irradiating the nano-mold resin layer with ultraviolet rays.

The method may further include forming a complementary layer on the second grid pattern between forming the second grid pattern and forming the nano-mold.

According to the inventive concept, since the second grid pattern can be further formed on a mold grid layer having a conventional base nano-mold and a nano-mold can be manufactured through processes of coating and curing a resin without requiring a complicated process, the inventive concept has advantages in that the base nano-mold can be recycled, efficiency of a nano-mold manufacturing process can be improved, and nano-mold manufacturing costs can be reduced.

In addition, according to the inventive concept, there are advantages in that manufacturing costs required for manufacturing a separate mold can be saved, a nano-mold with an improved aspect ratio can be manufactured, and the wire grid polarizer with improved polarization properties can be provided

In addition, according to the inventive concept, the aspect ratio of the nano-mold can be adjusted by simple processes as necessary.

The foregoing and other features and advantages of the inventive concepts will be apparent from the more particular description of preferred embodiments of the inventive concepts, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which like reference characters refer to the same parts throughout the different views. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles of the inventive concepts. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating a method of manufacturing a nano-mold according to the inventive concept;

FIGS. 2 to 9 are manufacturing process drawings illustrating a method of manufacturing a nano-mold according to an embodiment of the inventive concept; and

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an actual image of a base nano-mold according to an embodiment of the inventive concept.

Various embodiments will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings in which some embodiments are shown. These inventive concepts may, however, be embodied in different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure is thorough and complete and fully conveys the inventive concept to those skilled in the art. In the drawings, the sizes and relative sizes of layers and regions may be exaggerated for clarity.

Hereinafter, specific embodiments of the inventive concept will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating a method of manufacturing a nano-mold according to the inventive concept.

Referring to FIG. 1, the method of manufacturing a nano-mold according to the inventive concept may include step S1 of preparing a mold grid layer provided with a first grid pattern, step S3 of forming a second grid pattern on the first grid pattern of the mold grid layer, and step S5 of forming a nano-mold by coating a resin on the second grid pattern. In addition, the method of manufacturing a nano-mold according to the inventive concept may further include a step of forming a complementary layer on the second grid pattern, after step S3 of forming the second grid pattern is performed.

The mold grid layer prepared in step S1 is provided with a plurality of the first grid patterns having a constant cycle. Here, the first grid pattern is a concept including protruding patterns and grooves formed between respective protruding patterns, and the cycle means a distance between one first grid pattern and the neighboring first grid pattern.

The first grid pattern included in the mold grid layer may have various shapes such as a line grid shape and a shape of a moth-eye structure. In addition, a cross-sectional shape of the first grid pattern may include various structures such as a rectangular shape, a triangular shape, a semicircular shape and the like and may also include a metal line grid shape formed on the mold grid layer patterned in the form of a triangular shape, a rectangular shape, a sinusoidal wave and the like. That is, all structures having a constant cycle may be used as the first grid pattern of the inventive concept, regardless of the cross-sectional structure thereof.

Meanwhile, metals such as aluminum (Al), chromium (Cr), silver (Ag), copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), cobalt (Co) and molybdenum (Mo) and alloys thereof may be used as materials for the first grid pattern, and various metal oxides may also be used. In addition, a variety of materials such as silicon wafers or polymers may be used as materials for the first grid pattern.

In addition, it is preferable that the width and height ratio of the first grid pattern according to the inventive concept be implemented to meet 1: 0.2 to 5 and the width and the height of the first grid pattern 130 may be implemented to meet a range between 10 nm and 200 nm and a range between 10 nm and 500 nm, respectively. In addition, a cycle of the first grid pattern may be preferably implemented in a range between 100 nm and 250 nm, but is not limited thereto. The range may be adjusted in the course of the formation of the first grid pattern 130.

After the mold grid layer including the first grid pattern is prepared in step S1, a second grid pattern is formed on the first grid pattern in step S3. Here, the second grid pattern may collectively define a grid pattern formed on an upper portion of the first grid pattern, and the second grid pattern according to the inventive concept may be formed as follows. First, the second grid pattern may be formed by depositing a second grid pattern material on the first grid pattern through any deposition method that is currently developed and commercialized or that will be implemented in accordance with future technological developments such as a sputtering method, a chemical vapor deposition method, an evaporation method and the like. At this time, the second grid base layer may be preferably formed so as to include a space, rather than a structure in which portions spaced between the first grid patterns are filled, but is not limited thereto. The second grid base layer may be formed so as to include a space between the first grid patterns. This is to form the second grid pattern more smoothly and easily by facilitating a subsequent etching process. At this time, a metal or a metal oxide may be used as the second grid pattern material, but the material is not limited thereto. After the second grid base layer is formed, the etching process is performed and then the second grid pattern is formed by etching the space between the first grid patterns. Here, a portion to be etched may be the space between the first grid patterns. In addition, a part of the second grid base layer formed on the first grid pattern may also be etched, as necessary. Meanwhile, in the above-mentioned etching process, the second grid pattern may be formed by a wet-etching method. At this time, a width and thickness of the second grid pattern may be adjusted by adjusting the wet etching time.

The second grid pattern of the inventive concept may include a structure in which fine protruding patterns are arranged so as to have a constant cycle. The fine protruding pattern may be made of any one of materials including metals such as aluminum (Al), chromium (Cr), silver (Ag), copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), cobalt (Co) and molybdenum (Mo), alloys thereof and metal oxides. In particular, a fine protruding pattern may be a protruding structure formed on an upper portion of the first grid pattern by a process such as a deposition method. Here, the cycle means a distance between one grid pattern (for example, second grid pattern) and the neighboring grid pattern (for example, second grid pattern).

Meanwhile, a cross-sectional shape of the second grid pattern may be formed to have a variety of structures such as a rectangular shape, a triangular shape, a trapezoidal shape, and a semicircular shape, as in the first grid pattern described above, and may also be formed in the form of a triangular shape, a rectangular shape or a sinusoidal wave. That is, the second grid pattern may be formed as a shape with a constant cycle in one direction, regardless of the cross-section structure thereof. Meanwhile, a cycle of the second grid pattern may be within the range between 100 nm and 250 nm. In addition, in a preferred embodiment of the inventive concept, a ratio of the width and height of the second grid pattern may be formed within the range of 1: 0.5 to 1.5. In particular, the a ratio between the first grid pattern width and the second grid pattern width may be within the range of 1: 0.2 to 1.5 and specifically, the width of the second grid pattern may be implemented in the range of 2 nm to 300 nm.

Hereinafter, a structure including the mold grid layer with the first grid pattern and the second grid pattern may be defined as a base nano-mold.

After the second grid pattern is formed, a nano-mold is formed by coating a resin on the second grid pattern in step S5. Here, the formation of the nano-mold may be carried out as follows.

First, a nano-mold resin layer having a structure in which the first grid pattern and the second grid pattern are buried may be formed by coating a resin on the second grid pattern. Here, as the resin coated on the second grid pattern, curable materials such as a thermosetting resin, a thermoplastic resin, and a photocurable resin and photosensitive resin may be used. However, a photocurable resin may be preferably used in terms of the efficiency. More preferably, an UV curable resin may be used. The above-mentioned resin may be coated on the second grid pattern by a spin coating method, a die coating method, a roll coating method, a dip coating method, a cast method, a screen printing method or a patterning method. More preferably, the resin may be coated by a method of any one method of the spin coating method, the die coating method and the roll coating method, but is not limited thereto.

After the nano-mold resin layer is formed by coating the resin, the nano-mold resin layer is subjected to the curing process. At this time, a method of curing the nano-mold resin layer may be performed by heating or light-irradiating according to the nature of the resin. For example, when the coated resin is a photocurable resin, in particular, an UV curable resin, the UV curable resin may be cured by irradiating the nano-mold resin layer with ultraviolet rays.

Subsequently, the nano-mold of the inventive concept can be obtained by separating the first grid pattern and the second grid pattern from the nano-mold resin layer.

Meanwhile, a process of forming a complementary layer on the second grid pattern may be further performed between step S3 and step S5 described above. The complementary layer is a layer formed to complement irregular shapes between a base layer in which the first grid pattern and the second grid pattern are formed, and a nano-mold to be formed subsequently. The complementary layer may be formed on a portion or all of a surface of the second grid pattern. In addition, the complementary layer may also be formed on a portion or the entire first grid pattern. For example, the complementary layer according to the inventive concept may be formed by vapor-depositing materials such as an oxide, a metal, an organic material or the like on the first grid pattern and the second grid pattern. Accordingly, the irregular shapes of the nano-mold to be formed subsequently can be complemented by complementing the irregular shapes of a space between grid patterns.

The above-mentioned materials are only an example and the complementary layer of the inventive concept may be formed using any materials capable of being vapor deposited.

The nano-mold manufactured according to the inventive concept has a high aspect ratio. Accordingly, when a wire grid polarizer is manufactured using the nano-mold of the inventive concept, the wire grid polarizer with improved polarization properties can be provided. This is because when distances between the grid patterns in the wire grid polarizer are equal to each other and the widths of the grid patterns are equal to each other, the more the height of a grid pattern increases, the more the polarization property increases.

In addition, according to the inventive concept, when a nano-mode in which the height of the grid pattern is increased is manufactured, the second grid pattern can be further formed on a conventional base nano-mold and a nano-mold in which the height is increased can be manufactured through processes of coating and curing a resin without the need to manufacture a separate mold. Thus, the inventive concept has advantages in that the base nano-mold can be recycled, efficiency of a nano-mold manufacturing process can be improved, and mold manufacturing costs can be reduced.

FIGS. 2 to 9 are manufacturing process drawings illustrating a method of manufacturing a nano-mold according to an embodiment of the inventive concept.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 9, first, a mold grid layer 110 on which a first grid pattern 111 is provided is prepared, as shown in FIG. 2. Here, the first grid pattern 111 may be made of any one material such as a metal, silicon, polymer and the like. In addition, the structure of the first grid pattern 111 may have a moth-eye structure, a wire grid structure and the like and a cross-sectional shape thereof may have various shapes such as a rectangular shape shown in FIG. 2 as well as a triangular shape, a semicircular shape, a trapezoidal shape or the like as described with reference to FIG. 1 above. Subsequently, a second grid base layer 120 is formed by depositing a second grid pattern material on the first grid pattern 111 using a sputtering method, a chemical vapor deposition method, an evaporation method or the like, as shown in FIG. 3. Here, a metal or a metal oxide may be used as a deposited second grid pattern material. At this time, it is preferable that the second grid base layer 120 be formed in a structure in which a space 113 between the first grid patterns 111 is provided, in order to facilitate an etching process to be performed subsequently. After the second grid base layer 120 is formed, the etching process is performed and thus a second grid pattern 130 is formed by etching the space between the first grid patterns 111, as shown in FIG. 4. Here, a base nano-mold 10 according to an embodiment of the inventive concept may be formed by including the mold grid layer 110 having the first pattern 111 and the second grid pattern 130 formed on the first grid pattern 111.

Meanwhile, as shown in FIG. 5, after the second grid pattern 130 is formed, a complementary layer 140 may be further formed by vapor-depositing any one of materials such as an oxide, a metal, an organic material and the like on a portion or all of the second grid pattern 130. The complementary layer 140 of the inventive concept may play a role to complement irregular shapes among the first grid pattern 111, the second grid pattern 130, and a nano-mold to be formed subsequently. Here, a base nano-mold 20 according to another embodiment of the inventive concept may be formed by including the mold grid layer 110 having the first grid pattern 111, the second grid pattern 130 formed on the first grid pattern 111, and the complementary layer 140 formed on a portion or all of a surface of the second grid pattern 130. Meanwhile, although the complementary layer 140 is formed on the entire second grid pattern 130 as shown in FIG. 5, this is only an example. Thus, in addition, the complementary layer 140 may be formed on a portion or the entire first grid pattern 111.

Thereafter, a nano-mold resin layer 210 is formed by coating a resin on the second grid pattern 130 and a complementary layer 140 may be further formed on the second grid pattern 130 as shown in FIG. 6. The explanation of the formation of the complementary layer 140 has been already described with reference to FIG. 5. At this time, the nano-mold resin layer 210 has a structure in which the first grid pattern 110 and the second grid pattern 130 are buried, and the resin coated may be an ultraviolet (UV) curable resin, but is not limited thereto, as described in FIG. 1 above.

Subsequently, the nano-mold resin layer is subjected to a curing process. At this time, when the coated resin is an UV curable resin, the nano-mold resin layer 210 may be cured by irradiating the nano-mold resin layer 210 with ultraviolet rays as shown in FIG. 7.

In addition, when the nano-mold resin layer 210 is separated from the first grid pattern 111 and the second grid pattern 130 as shown in FIG. 8, a nano-mold 230 can be obtained as shown in FIG. 9.

In accordance with the inventive concept, the nano-mold having a grid pattern with an increased height can be obtained, and thus a mold grid layer or a base nano-mold of the related art can be reused, by forming the second grid pattern on the mold grid layer formed with the grid pattern. Accordingly, there are advantages in that manufacturing costs required for manufacturing a separate mold can be eliminated and a nano-mold with an improved aspect ratio can be manufactured without requiring a complicated process such as photolithography. In addition, the aspect ratio of the nano-mold can be adjusted by a simple process as necessary.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an actual image of a base nano-grid according to an embodiment of the inventive concept. In more detail, FIG. 10 shows an actual image of a base nano-grid in which a complementary layer is formed as described in FIGS. 2 to 9.

Referring to FIG. 10, a base nano-grid according to the inventive concept may have a structure including a first grid pattern 111, a second grid pattern 130 formed on the first grid pattern 111, and a complementary layer 140 formed on a surface of the second grid pattern, as shown in (a), (b) and (c) of FIG. 10. Here, a cross-sectional shape of the first grid pattern 111 may have a trapezoidal shape as shown in (a) of FIG. 10, or a rectangular shape as shown in (b) of FIG. 10. In addition, the cross-sectional shape of the first grid pattern 111 may have a semicircular shape as shown in (c) of FIG. 10, or any shape that can be currently implemented.

The foregoing is illustrative of embodiments and is not to be construed as limiting thereof. Although a few embodiments have been described, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that many modifications are possible in embodiments without materially departing from the novel teachings and advantages. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of this inventive concept as defined in the claims. In the claims, means-plus-function clauses are intended to cover the structures described herein as performing the recited function, and not only structural equivalents but also equivalent structures.

Claims

A base nano-mold comprising:

a mold grid layer formed with at least one first grid pattern; and

at least one second grid pattern formed on the first grid pattern.
The base nano-mold according to claim 1, wherein the first grid pattern is made of at least one material of a metal, silicon, and polymer.
The base nano-mold according to claim 1, wherein the first grid pattern has a moth-eye structure.
The base nano-mold according to claim 1, wherein the first grid pattern has a cross-sectional shape including at least one of a triangular shape, a trapezoidal shape, a rectangular shape and a semicircular shape.
The base nano-mold according to claim 1, wherein the second grid pattern is made of a metal or a metal oxide.
The base nano-mold according to claim 1, further comprising:

a complementary layer formed on a portion or all of a surface of the second grid pattern.
A method of manufacturing a nano-mold, comprising:

preparing a mold grid layer including a plurality of first grid patterns;

forming a second grid pattern on an upper portion of the first grid pattern; and

forming a nano-mold by coating a resin on an upper portion of the second grid pattern.
The method according to claim 7, wherein the first grid pattern is made of at least one material of a metal, silicon, and polymer.
The method according to claim 7, wherein the first grid pattern has a moth-eye structure.
The method according to claim 7, wherein the first grid pattern has a cross-sectional shape including at least one of a triangular shape, a rectangular shape, a trapezoidal shape, and a semicircular shape.
The method according to claim 7, wherein forming the second grid pattern includes;

forming a second grid base layer by depositing a second grid pattern material on the first grid pattern; and

forming a second grid pattern by etching a region corresponding to a space between the first grid patterns in the second grid base layer.
The method according to claim 11, wherein the second grid pattern material includes a metal or a metal oxide.
The method according to claim 11, wherein the second grid pattern material is deposited by at least one of a sputtering method, a chemical vapor deposition method and an evaporation method.
The method according to claim 7, wherein forming the nano-mold includes:

coating a resin on the second grid pattern to form a nano-mold resin layer having a structure in which the first grid pattern and the second grid pattern are buried;

curing the nano-mold resin layer; and

separating the nano-mold resin layer from the first grid pattern and the second grid pattern.
The method according to claim 14, wherein coating a resin on the second grid pattern is performed by at least one of a spin coating method, a die coating method, a roll coating method and a dip coating method.
The method according to claim 14, wherein the resin is a photocurable resin, and curing the nano-mold resin layer includes irradiating ultraviolet rays on the nano-mold resin layer to cure the resin.
The method according to claim 7, further comprising:

forming a complementary layer on the second grid pattern between forming the second grid pattern and forming the nano-mold.