The present invention provides an imprint apparatus including an amplifier configured to amplify a signal of displacement between a mold and a substrate, and a control unit configured to perform alignment between the mold and the substrate based on the amplified signal, wherein the control unit performs the alignment through a first operation of moving the substrate with respect to the mold in a first direction and a second operation of moving the substrate with respect to the mold in a second direction that is opposite to the first direction, and in the first operation, the control unit sets the gain of the amplifier to a first gain and changes the gain of the amplifier from the first gain to a second gain.

A method can be used to generate a fluid droplet pattern for an imprint lithography process using a fluid dispense system having fluid dispense ports. The method can include determining a fluid droplet pattern for dispensing a formable material onto a substrate; during a first pass, dispensing the formable material onto the substrate to form a first part of the fluid droplet pattern for an imprint field; offsetting the fluid dispense ports and substrate relative to each other in an offset direction; and during a second pass, dispensing the formable material onto the substrate to form a second part of the fluid droplet pattern for the imprint field. The method can be used to form a patterned layer over a semiconductor wafer in fabricating an electronic device. An apparatus can be configured to carry out the method.

An imprint apparatus includes a mold holder that holds a mold, a substrate holder that holds a substrate by suction, a driving device that brings the mold into contact with an imprint material on the substrate by relatively bringing the mold holder and the substrate holder close to each other, and a controller. The controller controls the driving device so as to bring the mold into contact with the imprint material in a state in which the substrate is deformed into a convex shape with respect to the mold by controlling pressures inside the plurality of suction regions based on surface shape data of the substrate held by the substrate holder.

A molding apparatus (1) includes: a servomotor (11) for pressing a resin component (W) by moving an upper mold (MU) in a direction in which the upper mold (MU) is made close to a lower mold (ML); servomotors (12a and 13a) each of which retains X-coordinate and Y-coordinate positions of the lower mold (ML); and a position detection section (41) which determines whether or not the resin component which is sandwiched between the upper mold and the lower mold has been cured, the servomotors each terminating the retention of the lower mold when the resin component has been cured. This makes it possible to obtain a molded product while preventing positional displacement caused by a decrease in volume of a resin which is being cured.

Methods are disclosed for fabricating molds for forming waveguides with integrated spacers for forming eyepieces. The molds are formed by etching features (e.g., 1 m to 1000 m deep) into a substrate comprising single crystalline material using an anisotropic wet etch. The etch masks for defining the large features may comprise a plurality of holes, wherein the size and shape of each hole at least partially determine the depth of the corresponding large feature. The holes may be aligned along a crystal axis of the substrate and the etching may automatically stop due to the crystal structure of the substrate. The patterned substrate may be utilized as a mold onto which a flowable polymer may be introduced and allowed to harden. Hardened polymer in the holes may form a waveguide with integrated spacers. The mold may be also used to fabricate a platform comprising a plurality of vertically extending microstructures of precise heights, to test the curvature or flatness of a sample, e.g., based on the amount of contact between the microstructures and the sample.

A transfer mold includes a body, a first layer, and a second layer. The body has a projecting-and-recessed surface. The first layer contains an inorganic material and is disposed on the projecting-and-recessed surface of the body. The second layer contains fluorine and is disposed on a surface of the first layer. The average of hardness values of the projecting-and-recessed surface on which the first and second layers are disposed is 30 Hv or higher.

Described herein is methacrylate copolymer derived from: a (meth)acrylate monomer comprising a second terminal olefin group; an alkyl methacrylate monomer wherein the alkyl group comprises 1 to 4 carbon atoms; a mono(meth)acrylate monomer comprising a low-surface-energy group, wherein the low-surface-energy group comprises a perfluorinated alkyl group, a perfluorinated polyether group, or a silicone group; and a RAFT agent. Such copolymers can be used to make liquid compositions, which may then be used to generate tooling for nanoimprint or transfer lithography.

An imprinting apparatus comprises a first carrier for carrying a flexible stamp, a set of carrier actuators for translating the first carrier in a direction parallel to a plane of the first carrier, and a second carrier movable relative to the first carrier and configured to carry a substrate having a resist layer. The second carrier comprises a chuck and a set of chuck actuators for translating a portion of the chuck in a direction perpendicular to a plane of the second carrier. This imprinting apparatus provides alignment between the flexible stamp and the substrate by controlling an in-plane position of the first carrier (so enabling X, Y and Rz position control) and controlling Z axis positions of the second carrier (so enabling Rx, Ry and Z position control). Thus, 6DOF position adjustment is enabled with a simple structure. Thus precise control of X, Y and Z translations and rotations is enabled while also enabling loading of substrates and/or stamps.

A method for micro-molding a polymeric membrane and including pouring a predetermined volume of curable polymer unto a micro-fabricated mold having a post array with pillars, and overlaying the polymer with a support substrate. A spacer, such as a rubber spacer, is placed in contact with the support substrate and a force is applied to an exposed side of the spacer to compress the support substrate and the polymer together. While applying the force, the polymer is cured on the mold for a predetermined time period and at a predetermined temperature to form a polymeric membrane having a pore array with a plurality of pores corresponding to the plurality of pillars of the post array. The polymeric membrane is removed from the support substrate.

A method of reducing the dimension of an imprint structure on a substrate, the method comprising the steps of: (a) providing a substrate having at least one imprint structure thereon, said structure being formed of an inorganic-organic compound comprising an inorganic moiety and a polymer moiety, said polymer moiety having a lower vaporization temperature than the melting point of said inorganic moiety; and (b) selectively removing at least part of the polymer moiety while enabling at least part of the inorganic moiety to form a substantially continuous inorganic phase in said imprint structure, wherein the removal of the at least part of the polymer moiety from the imprint structure reduces the dimension of the imprint structure.