Large-Area Roll-to-Roll and Roll-to-Plate Nanoimprint Lithography: A Step toward High-Throughput Application of Continuous Nanoimprinting

A continuous roll-to-roll nanoimprint lithography (R2RNIL) technique can provide a solution for high-speed large-area nanoscale patterning with greatly improved throughput; furthermore, it can overcome the challenges faced by conventional NIL in maintaining pressure uniformity and successful demolding in large-area imprinting. In this work, we demonstrate large-area (4 in. wide) continuous imprinting of nanogratings by using a newly developed apparatus capable of roll-to-roll imprinting (R2RNIL) on flexible web and roll-to-plate imprinting (R2PNIL) on rigid substrate. The 300 nm line width grating patterns are continuously transferred on either glass substrate (roll-to-plate mode) or flexible plastic substrate…