Fibre-imprint Technology Development

Abstract

Nanoimprint lithography (NIL) has become a promising technology for high-resolution nano-scale patterning, numerous applications have been exploited by using NIL. However, the need for fast, high-throughput process is required in the production of large-area patterns. In particular, the reel-to-reel nanoimprint lithography has been proven to yield large areas of continuous, high-resolution patterns in the micro- and nano-scale range.

In this work, self-aligning fibre imprinting process is developed by using continuous reel-to-reel roller embosser, which can be potentially applied to a range of different fibre materials. This work contains a complete and thorough demonstration including the process of stamp fabrication, fibre imprinting process and full characterization of the imprinted fibre. The proposed techniques involved in this work are described, and the results are analyzed. These techniques include fabricating fibre guide structure, fine feature writing and nickel stamp replication.

1mm-diameter Teflon monofilament is chosen for this fibre imprinting work, the characterization results confirmed that replicated structures are transfered from the electroplated nickel stamp onto the Teflon fibre. The factors which impact the imprinted results are studied, such as roller gap width and rolling speed. It is also shown that more than 50 imprints have been performed using the same stamp without significant degradation.