Fluoropolymer synthesis and its application as a mold material in UV-nano-imprint lithography process

In our present work, we report the synthesis of a novel, highly photosensitive photocurable methacrylate functionalized perfluoropolyether (fluoropolymer) by grafting methacrylate functional group onto the backbone of perfluoropolyether chain. Reaction mechanism for the synthesis of the oligomer has been clearly described in this article. Dihydroxy terminated perfluoropolyether (PFPE-diol) monomer was made photocurable by carrying out its reaction with ethyl isocyanato methacrylate (EIM) by a simple addition reaction. The product was characterized by NMR and FT-IR analysis. The synthesized polymeric material has potential application in soft lithographic process, as a viable option for PDMS (polydimethylsiloxane). Mold materials made from fluoropolymer have higher modulus, when compared to PDMS and posses better pattern relief property than rigid materials such as, quartz. In particular this fluoropolymer can be used as stamping material in nano fabrication, especially in UV-based Nano-imprinting lithographic (NIL) process.