Imprint lithography
AssigneeASML Netherlands B.V.
InventorsYvonne Wendela Kruijt-Stegeman, Henricus Wilhelmus Aloysius Janssen, Aleksey Yurievich Kolesnychenko, Helmar Van Santen
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An imprinting method is disclosed that includes applying an imprinting force to a template to cause the template to contact an imprintable medium on a target region of a first surface of a substrate to form an imprint in the medium, during application of the imprinting force, applying a compensating force to a second surface of the substrate which is opposite to the first surface so as to reduce deformation of the substrate caused by the application of the imprinting force, and separating the template from the imprinted medium.
Claims15
An imprinting apparatus, comprising:
- a substrate holder configured to hold a substrate;
- a template holder configured to hold a template, the template holder being operable to cause the template to contact an imprintable medium on a target region of a first surface of the substrate to form an imprint in the medium and to cause the template to separate from the imprinted medium, wherein in the absence of a compensating force, the template holder, in use, causes the substrate to deform by the template contacting the imprintable medium;
- and
- a compensating member operable to apply a compensating force;
- during the template contacting the imprintable medium, to a corresponding location of a second surface of the substrate which is opposite to the first surface so as to reduce deformation of the substrate caused by the template contacting the imprintable medium, wherein the compensating member is operable to provide a compensating force which is substantially equal to or greater than an imprinting force applied to the template to contact the medium to form the imprint in the medium.
An imprinting apparatus, comprising:
- a substrate holder configured to hold a substrate;
- a template holder configured to hold a template, the template holder being operable to apply an imprinting force to the template to cause the template to contact an imprintable medium on a target region of a first surface of the substrate to form an imprint in the medium, the target region having an area less than the area of the first surface of the substrate, and to cause the template to separate from the imprinted medium, wherein in the absence of a compensating force, the template holder, in use, causes the substrate to deform by the template contacting the imprintable medium;
- and
- a compensating member operable to apply a localized compensating force, during application of the imprinting force, to a corresponding location of a second surface of the substrate which is opposite to the first surface of the substrate so as to reduce deformation of the substrate caused by the application of the imprinting force, wherein the compensating member is operable to provide a compensating force which is substantially equal to or greater than an imprinting force applied to the template to contact the medium to form the imprint in the medium.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.