Integration of rotated 3-D structures into pre-patterned PMMA substrate using step & stamp nanoimprint lithography

In this work, we fabricated hybrid micron-scale blazed grating structures on top of linear nanoscale gratings by superimposing thermal nanoimprint process. A poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) substrate was at first pre-patterned with a nanoscale binary line grating by thermal NIL. The second imprint was added into the linear surface-gratings by sequential thermal imprinting using a stamp with micron-scale blazed gratings. The rotation controlled patterning was realized by Step and Stamp Imprint Lithography (SSIL) using NPS300 nanoimprinting stepper with a rotation imprint head with ability to control X/Y positioning and angular orientation of the stamp. In this paper, we demonstrate the potential of the hybrid imprint process for fabrication of e.g. hybrid bio devices or optical elements with arbitrary orientation. © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.