Provided are a method with which a spectacle lens molding mold having a minute recess can be made with high accuracy, and the like. A method for producing a molding mold 12 for molding a spectacle lens 1 in which a minute protrusion 6 is formed on at least one surface thereof includes a first molding mold preparation step of preparing a first mold 14 that includes a base material 26 and a coating portion 28, the coating portion being made of a nickel alloy, coating the base material, and having a surface formed into a shape corresponding to the shape of one surface of the spectacle lens; and a cutting step of cutting a recess 28A corresponding to the protrusion into the surface of the coating portion of the first mold.

A thermoplastic resin, such as PET, is molded to define a 2D code signal, such as a digital watermark pattern. The mold can comprise an array of hole or spike features, some of which are directly vented to atmospheric pressure. A network of channels can link the other features to the directly-vented features, so all features are vented. A mold comprising spike features can form a digital watermark pattern on an item such that the watermark payload is decodable both from the side of the item that contacted the mold, and also from the opposite, non-contact side of the item. To aid entry of viscous thermoplastic among the very fine elemental features of a mold representing a watermark signal pattern, the features can be overlapped, forming a connected binary mark having larger features. A variety of other improvements and arrangements are also detailed.

An imprint apparatus configured to form a pattern of an imprint material on a substrate using a mold includes a holding unit configured to hold the mold with a holding surface making contact with a first surface of the mold, a deformation unit configured to apply a force to the mold held at the holding surface to deform the mold, and a drive unit configured to move at least one of the mold held by the holding unit and the deformation unit to change a relative position between the mold held by the holding unit and the deformation unit. The drive unit changes a position where the deformation unit applies a force to the mold in a direction vertical to the first surface based on information about a position of a second surface on an opposite side of the first surface.

An imprint device that can simply detect an abnormality such as dirt of a mold chuck is provided. The imprint device includes a holding mechanism configured to hold a mold, a mold shape correcting mechanism configured to modify a shape of the mold, a mold shape measuring unit configured to measure the shape of the mold, and a determination unit configured to determine whether there is dirt on a mold holding surface of the holding mechanism or the mold based on mold modification characteristics which are measured by the mold shape measuring unit with respect to target mold modification values in the mold shape correcting mechanism.

According to one embodiment, a template for imprint patterning processes comprises a template substrate having a first surface and a pedestal on the first surface of the template substrate, the pedestal having a second surface spaced from the first surface in a first direction perpendicular to the first surface. A pattern is disposed on the second surface. The pedestal has a sidewall between the first surface and the second surface that is at an angle of less than 90° to the second surface.

A method for producing a molding mold for use in the production of a spectacle lens in which a minute protrusion is formed on one surface thereof includes preparing a master mold that has a base material and a coating portion coating the base material and having a surface formed into a shape corresponding to the shape of the one surface of the spectacle lens; cutting a recess corresponding to the protrusion into the surface of the coating portion; producing a transfer mold by performing electroforming on the coating portion in which the recess has been cut, the transfer mold having a surface that is complementary to the surface of the coating portion; and producing a first mold by performing electroforming on the surface of the transfer mold, the first mold having a surface that is complementary to the surface of the transfer mold.

A forming method of forming a micropattern which has a direction and a position controlled for each predetermined position on an object subjected to pattern formation, and an imprinting mold producing method, an imprinting mold and an optical device to which such a forming method is applied. A first mask pattern forming process of forming, by imprinting, a first mask pattern for forming the micropattern on a surface of an object subjected to pattern formation, the surface including a region where at least the micropattern is not formed yet; a second mask pattern forming process of forming a resist film on the object subjected to pattern formation and on the first mask pattern, exposing and developing such a film by light emission to form a second mask pattern that causes a region where the micropattern is not formed but the first mask patten is formed to appear in an uncovered manner; and a micropattern forming process of performing etching on the object subjected to pattern formation to form the micropattern. The first mask pattern forming process, the second mask pattern forming process and the micropattern forming process are repeated in this sequence.

The present invention provides an imprint apparatus that forms a pattern of an imprint material on a substrate using a mold, the apparatus including a measurement unit configured to measure one of a displacement and a position of a second surface opposite to a first surface on a side of a pattern region of the mold in a portion of the mold, the portion including the pattern region and being deformed into a convex shape toward a side of the substrate upon bringing the imprint material on the substrate and the pattern region into contact with each other, and a control unit configured to control a distance between the mold and the substrate based on a measurement value of the measurement unit such that a shape of the pattern region is kept constant upon curing the imprint material.

Some embodiments of the invention provide methods that can create large area complex patterns for nanoimprint molds without or with very litter of the use of the charged beam or photon beam direct-writing of nanostructures. Some embodiments of the invention use (i) Fourier nanoimprint patterning (FNP), (ii) edge-guided nanopatterning (EGN), and (iii) nanostructure self-perfection, and their combinations.

A method for producing a spectacle lens 2 including a base portion 2 that is made of a resin material and includes a convex object-side face and a concave eyeball-side face, and an optical element 12 that is made of a material different from the material for forming the base portion and is embedded in the base portion, is described. The method includes: arranging an optical element in a cavity 28 of a mold including a first mold part 20 and a second mold part 24 that can be opened and closed; introducing a resin material for forming a base portion of the spectacle lens into the cavity of the mold; obtaining the spectacle lens by curing the resin material that is a resin for forming the base portion; disassembling the mold; and detaching the spectacle lens from the mold.