Fabrication of sub-wavelength structures
AssigneeInternational Business Machine Corporation
InventorMarkus Schmidt
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method for the manufacture of sub-wavelength structures on substrates is provided, wherein a deformable photoresist is arranged on a substrate. A hydrophilic stamp (made of a material having a higher refractive index than the photoresist) is used to imprint wave guiding structures into the deformable photoresist. Light is coupled into the wave guiding structures to create evanescent waves to expose the photoresist. By imprinting critical dimensions on the substrate and subsequently exposing the resist by means of optical structures integrated in the stamp, those critical dimensions can be further reduced.
Claims15
A method for the manufacture of sub-wavelength structures on a substrate, the method comprising the steps of:
- providing a deformable photoresist on the substrate;
- forming a hydrophilic stamp made of a material having a higher refractive index than the photoresist, said stamp carrying wave guiding structures;
- imprinting said wave guiding structures into the deformable photoresist by bringing said stamp and the substrate in close contact;
- coupling light into the wave guiding structures, thereby creating evanescent waves to expose the photoresist;
- and
- developing the photoresisist.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.