Functional micropatterned surfaces prepared by simultaneous UV-lithography and surface segregation of fluorinated copolymers

Fluorinated low-viscosity copolymer with enhanced release property for roll-to-plate UV nanoimprint lithography

A new fluorinated low-viscosity copolymer resin with enhanced release properties has been developed to provide higher fidelity for roll-based ultraviolet (UV) nanoimprint lithography (NIL) and simplify the process. The properties are optimized by blending (2,2,3,3,4,4,5,5,6,6,7,7,8,8,9,9,9-heptadecafluorononyl) oxirane (EP-F8) and 1,4-butanediol divinyl ether (BDDVE) with 3,4-epoxycyclohexylmethyl-3,4-epoxy cyclohexane carboxylate. The cured resin renders the hydrophobicity and allows demolding from the stamp mold without an anti-stick layer (ASL), as further verified by the contact angle and the work of adhesion measurements. Due to the addition of BDDVE, our resin also has much lower viscosity compared to commercially available low-viscosity resins. These properties enable the transfer of high-density dot patterns by roll-to-plate (R2P) UV NIL in the newly developed resin without adding solvent or coating it with an ASL. These results demonstrate that our resin is a good option for high-quality, low-cost R2P UV NIL, as its use eliminates several steps in the imprinting process, making it applicable to the scalable fabrication of flexible devices.