title: Mold cleaning with polydimethylsiloxane for nanoimprint lithography.
abstract: We present a simple and effective mold cleaning method for nanoimprint lithography. Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) prepolymer is spin-coated onto a contaminated imprint mold, thermally cured in an ambient environment, and then peeled off afterwards. Contaminants of 100 s μm to sub-50 nm sizes are effectively cleaned within one cycle. During the cleaning process, a very thin PDMS film (1-2 nm) is uniformly coated onto the mold surface, serving as a protection and anti-sticking layer.
authors.affiliation: Nanodevices and Integrated Systems Laboratory, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Massachusetts, 100 Natural Resources Road, Amherst, MA 01003, USA.
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Shuang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pi
authors.forename: Hao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Qiangfei
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Xia