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Nanoimprint Lithography (NIL) is used in the manufacture of devices and components for optics, including LEDs, displays and optical sensors, electronics, microfluidics, photovoltaics, and other high-tech fields. The EV Group (EVG) is a leading manufacturer of solutions for NIL.
Mr. Schütte, what areas of NIL are most important for EV Group?
Currently, three main areas of NIL were developed: hot embossing, UV-based NIL and micro contact printing. They have different application fields that overlap with each other. We offer equipment, materials and technical solutions for all three technologies.
Please tell us about the features of these technologies and developments of EV Group in more detail.
Hot embossing allows to imprint up to 300 mm wafers with resolutions down to 50 nm. Embossing of the polymer wafers and polymeric coatings is typically performed in a vacuum at a temperature of about 250°C. Our systems support the heating up to 650°С for imprinting of glass and other materials with high melting point. Stamps typical are made of silicon, silicon oxide, or metals, e.g. nickel. We also offer polymer stamps, which are significantly cheaper than metal and silicon ones. The range of equipment includes semi-automatic and automatic models for research and industrial production, including roll-to-roll system. Hot embossing is used in the manufacture of microfluidic devices, diffractive optics, in prototyping.
UV-based technology is the most demanded kind of NIL. In UV-NIL, a transparent stamp forms the structure in the liquid UV-sensitive coating, whereupon the latter is cured by UV radiation. Hard stamps are made of quartz glass and for the manufacture of flexible stamps the polymer, e.g. PDMS is used. In addition to the devices for full field imprinting, we have developed the EVG 770 UV-NIL Stepper system for step and repeat imprinting with sub-25 nm resolution, which is compatible with up to 300 mm wafers. UV-NIL is used in the production of optics, semiconductor devices, sensors.
EVG 610/620, EVG 6200 and EVG 720 systems can be used for UV-NIL and micro contact printing, when the substance is applied by a stamp to the substrate. This technology is used in biomedical applications, photovoltaics, flexible electronics.
What are the prospects for the development of the NIL?
NIL has been added by expert to the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS) as a possible alternative to the conventional manufacturing processes at the 22 nm node and beyond. Our company actively improve NIL. In particular, we have created SmartNIL technology, which allows to obtain structures of different shapes, including three-dimensional, with a resolution of less than 40 nm. It uses soft stamps that can withstand more than 100 imprints, which is an excellent result compared to other soft UV-NIL processes in the market. It should be noted that we have significantly improved the soft stamps, reduced the fabrication time and improved quality. In laboratory tests the sub 15 nm resolution has been achieved. SmartNIL technology is used in our new EVG Hercules NIL system for fully automated processing of 200 mm wafers with the throughput up to 40 wafers/hour.
What are the advantages of solutions of EV Group?
Our company is a technological leader in the field of nanoimprint lithography. We offer comprehensive solutions, including equipment, materials and technological know-how. We provide the test of customers’ wafers and our technicians choose the optimal solution for them.
Currently, three main areas of NIL were developed: hot embossing, UV-based NIL and micro contact printing. They have different application fields that overlap with each other. We offer equipment, materials and technical solutions for all three technologies.
Please tell us about the features of these technologies and developments of EV Group in more detail.
Hot embossing allows to imprint up to 300 mm wafers with resolutions down to 50 nm. Embossing of the polymer wafers and polymeric coatings is typically performed in a vacuum at a temperature of about 250°C. Our systems support the heating up to 650°С for imprinting of glass and other materials with high melting point. Stamps typical are made of silicon, silicon oxide, or metals, e.g. nickel. We also offer polymer stamps, which are significantly cheaper than metal and silicon ones. The range of equipment includes semi-automatic and automatic models for research and industrial production, including roll-to-roll system. Hot embossing is used in the manufacture of microfluidic devices, diffractive optics, in prototyping.
UV-based technology is the most demanded kind of NIL. In UV-NIL, a transparent stamp forms the structure in the liquid UV-sensitive coating, whereupon the latter is cured by UV radiation. Hard stamps are made of quartz glass and for the manufacture of flexible stamps the polymer, e.g. PDMS is used. In addition to the devices for full field imprinting, we have developed the EVG 770 UV-NIL Stepper system for step and repeat imprinting with sub-25 nm resolution, which is compatible with up to 300 mm wafers. UV-NIL is used in the production of optics, semiconductor devices, sensors.
EVG 610/620, EVG 6200 and EVG 720 systems can be used for UV-NIL and micro contact printing, when the substance is applied by a stamp to the substrate. This technology is used in biomedical applications, photovoltaics, flexible electronics.
What are the prospects for the development of the NIL?
NIL has been added by expert to the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS) as a possible alternative to the conventional manufacturing processes at the 22 nm node and beyond. Our company actively improve NIL. In particular, we have created SmartNIL technology, which allows to obtain structures of different shapes, including three-dimensional, with a resolution of less than 40 nm. It uses soft stamps that can withstand more than 100 imprints, which is an excellent result compared to other soft UV-NIL processes in the market. It should be noted that we have significantly improved the soft stamps, reduced the fabrication time and improved quality. In laboratory tests the sub 15 nm resolution has been achieved. SmartNIL technology is used in our new EVG Hercules NIL system for fully automated processing of 200 mm wafers with the throughput up to 40 wafers/hour.
What are the advantages of solutions of EV Group?
Our company is a technological leader in the field of nanoimprint lithography. We offer comprehensive solutions, including equipment, materials and technological know-how. We provide the test of customers’ wafers and our technicians choose the optimal solution for them.
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