An imprint apparatus for forming a pattern of an imprint material on a substrate using a mold having a mesa including a pattern region where a pattern and a mark are formed. The apparatus includes an alignment optical system which includes an illumination system configured to illuminate the mark with illumination light and a detecting system configured to detect an image of the mark illuminated by the illumination system. The illumination system includes a limiter configured to limit incidence of the illumination light to a side of the mesa, a ridge line of the mesa, and an outer region of the side.

An imprint apparatus for forming a pattern of an imprint material on a substrate by using a mold including a pattern formation area, the imprint apparatus includes a detection unit configured to detect a contact state of the imprint material on the substrate with the mold, a light modulation element configured to control an intensity distribution of irradiation light irradiating the substrate, and a control unit configured to control a timing of irradiating the substrate with the irradiation light having the intensity distribution controlled by the light modulation element based on a detection result of the detection unit.

According to one embodiment, an imprint template manufacturing apparatus includes: a supply head that supplies a liquid-repellent material in liquid form to a template having a convex portion where a concavo-convex pattern is formed on a stage; a moving mechanism that moves the stage and the supply head relatively in a direction along the stage; a controller that controls the supply head and the moving mechanism such that the supply head applies the liquid-repellent material to at least a side surface of the convex portion so as to avoid the concavo-convex pattern; and a cleaning unit that supplies a liquid to the template coated with the liquid-repellent material. The liquid-repellent material contains a liquid-repellent component and a non-liquid-repellent component that react with the surface of the template, and a volatile solvent that dissolves the liquid-repellent component. The liquid is a fluorine-based volatile solvent that dissolves the non-liquid-repellent component.

Provided are a production method of a mold having a recessed pattern in a recessed step portion capable of preventing a liquid from flowing, and a manufacturing method of a pattern sheet.

A production method of a mold having a recessed pattern includes: a plate precursor preparation step of preparing a plate precursor having a pedestal on which a protruding pattern is disposed; a resin plate preparation step of preparing a thermoplastic resin plate having a recessed step portion having a volume equal to or less than a total volume of the protruding pattern and the pedestal; and a resin plate precursor production step of producing a thermoplastic resin plate precursor, the resin plate precursor production step including a positioning step of positioning the protruding pattern of the plate precursor and a center position of the recessed step portion, and a recessed pattern forming step of forming a recessed pattern having an inverted shape of the protruding pattern on the thermoplastic resin plate by pressing the protruding pattern of the heated plate precursor and the pedestal against the recessed step portion, thereafter cooling the plate precursor, and separating the plate precursor from the thermoplastic resin plate.

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 apparatus that forms a pattern made of an imprint material on each of a plurality of shot regions of a substrate, includes a user interface configured to allow a user to perform editing for assigning each of the plurality of shot regions to any one of a plurality of groups such that each of the plurality of groups is formed by at least one shot region onto which the imprint material is continuously supplied from a dispenser.

Disclosed herein are techniques for molding a slanted structure. In some embodiments, a mold for nanoimprint lithography includes a support layer, a polymeric layer on the support layer and including a slanted structure, and an oxide layer on surfaces of the slanted structure. In some embodiments, the oxide layer is conformally deposited on the surfaces of the slanted structure by atomic layer deposition. In some embodiments, the mold further includes an anti-sticking layer on the oxide layer.

A hand-operated tool for embossing a membrane or other soft pliable implant with microgrooves or microgeometries is disclosed. The tool includes an embossing surface such as a pressure plate or roller that includes a specific microgroove or microtopographical pattern. This allows a user such as a clinician to create an embossed surface on a membrane or other implantable device at the time of surgery for the purposes of directing cellular orientation and migration, increasing cell migration velocity and enhancing re-epithelialization rates in various medical and dental applications.

Imprint apparatus brings pattern region of mold into contact with imprint material on shot region of substrate, aligns the shot region and the pattern region with each other, and cures the imprint material. The apparatus includes light irradiator which irradiates the imprint material with light. In state that the imprint material on the shot region and the pattern region are in contact and the pattern region is flat, the light irradiator performs preliminary exposure of irradiating the imprint material with the light to increase viscosity of the imprint material. In the preliminary exposure, the light irradiator irradiates the imprint material with the light under illuminance distribution determined such that illuminance in contact beginning region where the imprint material and the pattern region begin to contact is lower than illuminance in certain region different from the contact beginning region.

A method for fabricating a mold. The mold may comprise mold features with nanometer-scale resolution or minimum dimensions (e.g. the mold replicates nanometer-scale features of a master). The mold may comprise mold features with nanometer to micrometer-scale resolution or minimum dimensions (e.g. the mold replicates nanometer to micrometer-scale features of a master). The method may comprise providing a plate; applying a solvent to a first surface of the plate; allowing the solvent to penetrate from the first surface into the plate to thereby soften a first region of the plate, the first region of the plate including the first surface; pressing a master against the first region of the plate after the first region of the plate has softened to thereby deform at least a portion of the first region into a negative mold; and removing the master from contact with the plate.