Material-process coupling in nanoimprint lithography: stamp mechanics, resist behaviour and demolding energetics

Abstract

Nanoimprint lithography (NIL) has matured over three decades into a high-resolution patterning technique with applications spanning semiconductor manufacturing, photonics, biomedical patterning and microfluidic fabrication. Recent reviews describe NIL molds, resist chemistries and demolding physics in considerable detail. This Perspective examines the interaction between these components rather than treating them as independent design variables. Three recurring interaction patterns are distinguished: rheology-compliance coupling during fill, curing-interface coupling during photochemical cure, and mechanical-energetic coupling during release. Across the cited literature, characteristic defects such as incomplete filling, feature deformation, adhesion, tearing and demolding damage depend on combinations of geometry, material state and process conditions rather than on a single material threshold. During fill, resist rheology and mold compliance act together; during cure, conversion, polymerization shrinkage and interface chemistry influence the state from which release begins; during demolding, stored stress, interfacial adhesion and friction, feature geometry and release conditions determine whether separation is clean or damaging. Demolding is therefore treated here as a practical observability point at which the accumulated consequences of fill and cure become evident. The synthesis maps documented interaction patterns and their implications for material development. It does not propose a quantitative ranking, a predictive model, a unified material-design framework or a roadmap for NIL.