Materials for step and flash imprint lithography (S-FIL (R))

Step and flash imprint lithography, or S-FIL (R), was introduced in 1999 by The University of Texas at Austin (Proc. SPIE-Int. Soc. Opt. Eng., 1999, 3676, 379), and has progressed from an academic curiosity to commercialization in less than five years (J. Microlithogr., Microfabr., Microsyst., 2005, 4, 1). It has proven to be a cost effective, high resolution alternative to traditional optical lithography and has been placed on The International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors ( ITRS) as a potential candidate for 32 nm device fabrication ( http:// www. itrs. net/ Links/ 2006Update/ FinalToPost/ 08_ Lithography2006Update. pdf.). This article summarizes the efforts made towards the development of imprint materials for S-FIL and the obstacles that have yet to be overcome.