Preserving Filled Features When Vacuum Wiping

A nano-imprint lithography system, comprising:

• a template having a pattern of nano-dimensional features;
• a dispensor for depositing a monomer on the template, wherein the pattern is to be imprinted into the monomer;
• a UV light source for curing the monomer with UV light in a manner that leaves a thin layer of the monomer not fully cured, resulting in a partially cured monomer;
• means for contacting a substrate to the partially cured monomer so that the thin layer of the monomer not fully cured bonds to the substrate;
• and
• means for performing a second curing of the monomer to complete curing of the partially cured monomer.

In a nano-imprint lithography system, a method comprising:

• depositing a monomer on a template having a pattern of nano-dimensional features to imprint into the monomer, wherein the monomer comprises two separate initiators, whereby a first of the two separate initiators cures at a faster rate than a second of the two separate initiators;
• curing the monomer with UV light in a manner that cures a portion of the monomer containing the first of the two separate initiators leaving a thin layer of the monomer not fully cured, resulting in a partially cured monomer;
• contacting a substrate to the partially cured monomer so that the thin layer of the monomer not fully cured bonds to the substrate;
• and
• performing a second curing of the monomer with the UV light in a manner that cures a portion of the monomer containing the second of the two separate initiators, resulting in a fully cured monomer.

A nano-imprint lithography system, comprising:

• a template having a pattern of nano-dimensional features;
• a monomer comprising two separate initiators, whereby a first of the two separate initiators cures at a faster rate than a second of the two separate initiators;
• a dispensor for depositing the monomer on the template, wherein the pattern is to be imprinted into the monomer;
• a UV light source for curing the monomer with UV light in a manner that cures a portion of the monomer containing the first of the two separate initiators leaving a thin layer of the monomer not fully cured, resulting in a partially cured monomer;
• means for contacting a substrate to the partially cured monomer so that the thin layer of the monomer not fully cured bonds to the substrate;
• and
• means for performing a second curing of the monomer with the UV light in a manner that cures a portion of the monomer containing the second of the two separate initiators, resulting in a fully cured monomer.