Pattern forming method as well as production methods for processed substrate, optical component, circuit board, electronic component and imprint mold

A pattern forming method, comprising:

• laying a layer formed of a curable composition (A1) containing at least a polymerizable compound (a1) and a solvent (d1) on a surface of a substrate;
• dispensing droplets of a curable composition (A2) containing at least a polymerizable compound (a2) dropwise discretely onto the layer formed of the curable composition (A1) to lay the droplets;
• sandwiching a mixture layer obtained by partially mixing the curable composition (A1) and the curable composition (A2) between a mold and the substrate;
• irradiating the mixture layer with light through the mold to cure the mixture layer;
• and
• releasing the mold from the mixture layer after the curing,
• wherein the laying of the layer comprises forming a liquid film from the curable composition (A1) on the substrate,
• wherein the curable composition (A1) when the solvent (d1) is not present has a viscosity at 25° C. of 20 mPa·s to less than 500 mPa·s,
• wherein the curable composition (A2) has a viscosity at 25° C. of 1 mPa·s to less
• wherein the liquid film of the curable composition (A1) formed on the substrate has a volatile amount of 10 μg/m3 or less, the volatile amount being a value determined by forming a coating of the liquid film on a round substrate with a 300 mm diameter in the same manner as in the layer of the layer on the substrate, then putting the coating of the liquid film on the round substrate into a container having a volume of 0.8 m3, subsequently forcing air showing a dew point of −40° C. or lower to flow through the container at a rate of 0.3 L/min, then collecting the air having flowed through the container by using a collection tube for 30 minutes to collect 9 liters of the air, and measuring a total amount of volatile components volatilized from the liquid film of the curable composition (A1) on the round substrate by gas chromatography,
• wherein the dispensing of the droplets comprises forming droplets that are arranged discretely on the liquid film of the curable composition (A1), and
• wherein the curable composition (A2) has a viscosity at 25° C. of 1 mPa·s to less than 40 mPa·s.

A pattern forming method, comprising:

• dispensing a droplet of an imprint resist discretely onto a liquid imprint pretreatment coating on a substrate such that the droplet is spread on the liquid imprint pretreatment coating to yield a spread imprint resist, wherein the liquid imprint pretreatment coating comprises a polymerizable component and the imprint resist is a polymerizable composition;
• contacting the spread imprint resist with a mold;
• and
• polymerizing the spread imprint resist and the liquid imprint pretreatment coating to yield a polymeric layer on the substrate,
• wherein the liquid imprint pretreatment coating is formed from a liquid imprint pretreatment coating material comprising the polymerizable component and, optionally, further comprising a solvent,
• wherein the imprint pretreatment coating material when the solvent is not present has a viscosity at 25° C. of 40 mPa·s to less than 500 mPa·s, and
• wherein the imprint resist has a viscosity at 25° C. of 1 mPa·s to less than 40 mPa·s.

A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device, the method comprising:

• providing a liquid imprint pretreatment coating on a substrate, wherein the liquid imprint pretreatment coating comprises a polymerizable compound;
• dispensing a droplet of an imprint resist onto the liquid imprint pretreatment coating such that the droplet is spread on the liquid imprint pretreatment coating to yield a spread imprint resist, wherein the imprint resist is a polymerizable composition;
• contacting the spread imprint resist with a mold;
• polymerizing the spread imprint resist and the liquid imprint pretreatment coating to yield a polymeric layer on the substrate;
• separating the mold from the polymeric layer;
• and
• etching the substrate via the polymeric layer,
• wherein the liquid imprint pretreatment coating is formed from a liquid imprint pretreatment coating material comprising the polymerizable compound and, optionally, further comprising a solvent,
• wherein the imprint pretreatment coating material when the solvent is not present has a viscosity at 25° C. of 40 mPa·s to less than 500 mPa·s, and
• wherein the imprint resist has a viscosity at 25° C. of 1 mPa·s to less than 40 mPa·s.