Low volume shrinkage, alkaline degradable UV nanoimprint lithography resists based on acrylic anhydride

The shrinkage phenomenon of UV-NIL resists during photocuring is still regarded as an important problem hindering the wide application of UV-NIL technology. Herein, we designed four degradable UV-NIL resists with low volume shrinkage rate based on acrylic anhydride. Acrylate provided quick UV curing ability, and the resists were completely cured under a 365 nm UV light for 10 seconds. The anhydride group provided a degradation ability, causing the cured resists to be completely dissolved in an alkaline developer. Introducing rings in the molecular structure could compensate for volume shrinkage by ring-opening, and the volume shrinkage rate of the resists was below 4%. The cured resists showed good thermal stability with a decomposition temperature higher than 150 °C. The UV-NIL resists demonstrated good pattern replication ability, and distinct patterns with 100 nm resolution were obtained. The prepared UV-NIL resists are expected to play a role in the manufacturing of semiconductors, solar cells, displays, sensors, and other devices in the future.