Pretreatment process of a substrate in micro/nano imprinting technology

• US 20060045988A1
• Filed: 08/26/2005
• Published: 03/02/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 08/27/2004
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: National Cheng KUNG University (Government of The Republic of China)
• Original Assignee: National Cheng KUNG University (Government of The Republic of China)
• Inventors: Hong, Chau-Nan, Hon, Min-Hsiung, Cheng, Chiao-Yang, Guo, Yoou-Bin
• Application Number:
  US11/211,717
• Publication Number:
  US 20060045988A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 427/569
• CPC Class Codes: B08B 7/0035 by radiant energy, e.g. UV, laser, light beam or the like
• CPC Class Codes: B82Y 10/00 Nanotechnology for information processing, storage or transmission, e.g. quantum computing or single electron logic
• CPC Class Codes: B82Y 40/00 Manufacture or treatment of nanostructures
• CPC Class Codes: G03F 7/0002 Lithographic processes using patterning methods other than those involving the exposure to radiation, e.g. by stamping

Abstract

A pretreatment process of a substrate in a micro/nano imprinting technology is disclosed, comprising deposing the substrate on a holder and performing a plasma treatment or an ion treatment on the substrate. In the plasma treatment of the substrate, a reactive gas is first injected into the chamber to form a plasma, such that the plasma causes a physical reaction and a chemical reaction on the substrate to activate the substrate surface and also remove particles and contaminants adhering to the substrate surface. When the ion treatment is performed on the substrate, an ion source is placed into the chamber and ions and neutral atoms generated by the ion source bombard the substrate, causing a physical reaction and a chemical reaction on the substrate to activate the substrate surface and also remove particles and contaminants adhering to the substrate surface.

Claims

1. A pretreatment process of a substrate in a micro/nano imprinting technology, comprising:

deposing the substrate on a holder; and

performing a plasma treatment on the substrate, comprising;

infusing a reactive gas; and

applying a power to form a plasma by using the reactive gas to cause a physical reaction and a chemical reaction with the substrate.

2. The pretreatment process of a substrate in a micro/nano imprinting technology according to claim 1, wherein the micro/nano imprinting technology is a hot-embossing, a UV-curing imprinting or a step-and-flash imprinting.

3. The pretreatment process of a substrate in a micro/nano imprinting technology according to claim 1, wherein the substrate is a hard substrate or a soft flexible substrate.

4. The pretreatment process of a substrate in a micro/nano imprinting technology according to claim 1, wherein a material of the substrate is selected from the group consisting of glass, silicon, metal, ceramic, plastics and rubber.

5. The pretreatment process of a substrate in a micro/nano imprinting technology according to claim 1, wherein a material of the substrate is selected from the group consisting of a metal sheet or foil composed of a single metallic element and an alloy sheet or foil composed of a plurality of metallic elements, wherein a material of the metal sheet or foil is selected from the group consisting of Cu and Ni, and a material of the alloy sheet or foil comprises a steel.

6. The pretreatment process of a substrate in a micro/nano imprinting technology according to claim 1, wherein the substrate is selected from the group consisting of glass, silicon, metal, ceramic, plastic and rubber, each of which has a surface plated with a transparent conductive ceramic material.

7. The pretreatment process of a substrate in a micro/nano imprinting technology according to claim 1, wherein a reactive pressure of the plasma treatment is between 10⁻

6 torr and 1500 torr.

8. The pretreatment process of a substrate in a micro/nano imprinting technology according to claim 1, wherein a chamber is employed and the chamber comprises a plasma electrode, the plasma treatment comprises applying the power to the plasma electrode, and the substrate is deposed on the plasma electrode.

9. The pretreatment process of a substrate in a micro/nano imprinting technology according to claim 1, wherein the plasma treatment comprises applying the power to a plasma electrode generating the plasma, and the substrate is deposed at a predetermined distance away from the plasma electrode, wherein the substrate is not directly exposed to the plasma.

10. The pretreatment process of a substrate in a micro/nano imprinting technology according to claim 1, wherein the plasma treatment comprises applying the power to a plasma electrode generating the plasma, and the substrate is deposed on another electrode which is simultaneously powered by another power supply.

11. The pretreatment process of a substrate in a micro/nano imprinting technology according to claim 1, wherein a plasma treatment is performed on the substrate without using any chamber, and the plasma produced by atmospheric discharge or plasma torch at around or above the pressure of one atmosphere treats the substrate under open environment.

12. The pretreatment process of a substrate in a micro/nano imprinting technology according to claim 1, wherein the plasma is produced by applying the power to a plasma electrode generating the plasma, and the frequency of the power is between direct current frequency and microwave frequency (˜

GHz), including radio frequency (RF, ˜

MHz).

13. The pretreatment process of a substrate in a micro/nano imprinting technology according to claim 1, wherein the reactive gas comprises an inert gas, and the inert gas is selected from the group consisting of Ar, He, Ne and any combination thereof, wherein the physical reaction is an ion bombardment reaction.

14. The pretreatment process of a substrate in a micro/nano imprinting technology according to claim 1, wherein the reactive gas comprises an active gas, and the active gas is selected from the group consisting of O₂, N₂, water vapor, gas molecules containing C, H, O, F or Si elements and any combination thereof, wherein the chemical reaction is a chemical bonding reaction.

15. The pretreatment process of a substrate in a micro/nano imprinting technology according to claim 1, wherein the reactive gas comprises a mixture gas combined inert gases and active gases, and the inert gas is selected from the group consisting of Ar, He, Ne and any combination thereof;

the active gas is selected from the group consisting of O₂, N₂, water vapor, gas molecules containing C, H, O, F or Si elements and any combination thereof.

16. The pretreatment process of a substrate in a micro/nano imprinting technology according to claim 1, prior to the step of deposing the substrate within the chamber, further comprising performing a liquid rinsing step and a high-speed airstream brushing step to pre-treat and clean the substrate, wherein the liquid rinsing step comprises using a rinsing liquid, and the rinsing liquid is selected from the group consisting of pure water, water solution containing chemical materials, organic solvent and any combination thereof.

17. A pretreatment process of a substrate in a micro/nano imprinting technology, comprising:

deposing the substrate within a chamber; and

performing an ion treatment on the substrate, comprising;

infusing a reactive gas into the chamber; and

forming ion species by using the reactive gas to cause a physical reaction and a chemical reaction with the substrate.

18. The pretreatment process of a substrate in a micro/nano imprinting technology according to claim 17, wherein the micro/nano imprinting technology is a hot-embossing, a UV-curing imprinting or a step-and-flash imprinting.

19. The pretreatment process of a substrate in a micro/nano imprinting technology according to claim 17, wherein the substrate is a hard substrate, a soft flexible substrate or a composite substrate, wherein a material of the hard substrate is selected from the group consisting of glass, silicon, metal and ceramic, and a material of the flexible substrate is selected from the group consisting of plastics, rubber, metal sheet or foil and any combination thereof, and a material of the composite substrate is a hard or flexible substrate doped with fine structure material or coated plated with a ceramic material.

20. The pretreatment process of a substrate in a micro/nano imprinting technology according to claim 17, wherein a frequency of the power to produce the plasma for extracting ions is between direct current frequency and microwave frequency (˜

GHz), including radio frequency (RF, ˜

MHz).

21. The pretreatment process of a substrate in a micro/nano imprinting technology according to claim 17, wherein the reactive gas comprises an inert gas, active gas and any combination thereof, wherein

the inert gas is selected from the group consisting of Ar, He, Ne and any combination thereof, and the physical reaction is an ion bombardment reaction;

and

the active gas is selected from the group consisting of O₂, N₂, water vapor, gas molecules containing C, H, O, F or Si elements and any combination thereof, and the chemical reaction induces new functional groups and structure on the surface of substrate.

22. The pretreatment process of a substrate in a micro/nano imprinting technology according to claim 17, prior to the step of deposing the substrate within the chamber, further comprising performing a liquid rinsing step and a high-speed airstream brushing step to pre-treat and clean the substrate, wherein the liquid rinsing step comprises using a rinsing liquid, and the rinsing liquid is selected from the group consisting of pure water, water solution containing chemical materials, organic solvent and any combination thereof.