Abstract
Dislocation dynamics simulations are performed to investigate the effect of template shape on the nanoimprinting of metal layers. To this end, metal thin films are imprinted by a rigid template made of an array of equispaced indenters of various shapes, i.e., rectangular, wedge, and circular. The geometry of the indenters is chosen such that the contact area is approximately the same at the final imprinting depth. Results show that, for all template shapes, the final patterns strongly depend on the dislocation activity, and that each imprint differs from the neighboring ones. Large material pile ups appear between the imprints, such that polishing of the metal layer is suggested for application of the patterns in electronics. Rectangular indenters require the lowest imprinting force and achieve the deepest retained imprints.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Cross, G.L.W., O’Connell, B.S., Özer, H.O., Pethica, J.B., 2007. Room temperature mechanical thinning and imprinting of solid films. Nano Letters, 7(2):357–362.
Guo, L.J., 2007. Nanoimprint lithography: methods and material requirements. Advanced Materials, 19(4):495–513. [doi:10.1002/adma.200600882]
Nicola, L., Bower, A.F., Kim, K.S., Needleman, A., van der Giessen, E., 2008. Multi-asperity contact: A comparison between discrete dislocation and crystal plasticity predictions. Philosophical Magazine, 88(30–32):3713–3729. [doi:10.1080/14786430802566372]
Rice, J.R., 1987. Tensile crack tip fields in elastic-ideally plastic crystals. Mechanics of Materials, 6(4):317–335. [doi:10.1016/0167-6636(87)90030-5]
van der Giessen, E., Needleman, A., 1995. Discrete dislocation plasticity: a simple planar model. Modelling and Simulation in Materials Science and Engineering, 3(5): 689–735. [doi:10.1088/0965-0393/3/5/008]
Widjaja, A., van der Giessen, E., Needleman, A., 2005. Discrete dislocation modelling of submicron indentation. Materials Science and Engineering: A, 400–401(25): 456–459. [doi:10.1016/j.msea.2005.01.074]
Zhang, Y.H., van der Giessen, E., Nicola, L., 2010. Discrete dislocation simulations of the flattening of nanoimprinted surfaces. Modelling and Simulation in Materials Science and Engineering, 18(3):034006. [doi:10.1088/0965-0393/18/3/034006]
Zong, Z., Lou, J., Adewoye, O.O., Elmustafa, A.A., Hammad, F., Soboyejo, W.O., 2006. Indentation size effect in the nano and microhardness of fcc single crystal metals. Materials Science and Engineering: A, 434(1–2):178–187. [doi:10.1080/10426910601063410]
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Project (No. VENI 08120) supported by the Dutch National Scientific Foundation NWO and Dutch Technology Foundation STW
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zhang, Yh., Nicola, L. Effect of template shape on metal nanoimprinting: a dislocation dynamics study. J. Zhejiang Univ. Sci. A 11, 722–726 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1631/jzus.A1000175
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1631/jzus.A1000175