FLUID TRANSPORT AND DISPENSING
Imprint lithography systems and methods for transporting and dispensing polymerizable material on a substrate are described. In one implementation, the transport system utilizes a dispense head, dispense guard, and a shielding block when dispensing the polymerizable material. In another implementation, the transport system comprises one or more filters positioned in an inline manifold for particle reduction or ion reduction.
1 . A method of nano-scale pattern replication on a substrate, the method comprising:
determining a drop pattern of a polymerizable material to be positioned on the substrate;
determining a time interval for dispensing the polymerizable material from one or more printheads of a fluid dispensing system in accordance with the drop pattern; and
collecting one or more drops of the polymerizable material during dispensation in a disposal system for evaluation.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the drop pattern comprises approximately 100 or more drops of polymerizable material with a drop ejection rate of at least about 1 kilohertz and with a resolution of about 100 dots per inch (DPI) to about 5000 DPI.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the dispense is idle for an approximate period of time of about two minutes or greater.
4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the time interval for dispensing the polymerizable material is during the time that the imprint process is idle.
5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the fluid dispensing system is controlled by at least one of a program stored in a computer-readable storage media and one or more processors.
6 . A system for dispensing a polymerizable material comprising:
one or more dispense heads delivering the polymerizable material through the system to a substrate;
a nozzle system coupled to each of the one or more dispense heads, wherein each nozzle system comprises a nozzle tip;
a dispense head guard and a dispense head cap coupled to each of the one or more dispense heads; and
an integral shielding block such that there is a distance D between the integral shielding block and the substrate during an imprint process.
7 . The system of claim 6 , wherein the dispense head guard and the dispense head cap comprise a material substantially impermeable to ultraviolet light.
8 . The system of claim 6 , wherein the dispense head guard comprises at least a base and at least a guard plate, wherein the base has a thickness T 3 such that there is a distance D 1 between the guard plate and the nozzle tip ranging from about 250 microns to about 750 microns.
9 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the guard plate comprises an opening permitting the polymerizable material to pass through to the substrate.
10 . The system of claim 6 , wherein the distance D is about 750 microns.
11 . The system of claim 6 , wherein the nozzle tip comprises:
a diameter ranging from about 10 nanometers to about 100 microns;
a drop volume ranging from about 1 femtoliter to about 180 picoliters.
12 . The system of claim 6 , wherein the polymerizable material has a drop ejection rate no less than 1 kilohertz and with a resolution of about 100 dots per inch (DPI) to about 5000 DPI.
13 . The system of claim 6 , wherein the one or more printheads are configured as a single dispense head, a dual stitch configuration, a dual interlaced configuration, or a matrix configuration.
14 . The system of claim 6 further comprising one or mounting hardware enabling the one or more printheads to perform a theta motion, a roll motion, or a pitch motion.
15 . The system of claim 6 , wherein the system is controlled by at least one of a program stored in a computer-readable storage media and one or more processors.
16 . A fluid transport system providing a polymerizable material to a dispense head in a system, the fluid transport system comprising:
one or more fluid supply reservoirs to supply the polymerizable material to the dispense head;
one or more fluid return reservoirs to accept the polymerizable material from the dispense head;
an inline manifold coupled to each of the fluid supply reservoirs distributing the polymerizable material to the dispense head or from the dispense head;
one or more degassers located between the one or more fluid supply reservoirs and the one or more fluid return reservoirs; and
one or more filters positioned in the inline manifold for particle reduction or ion reduction.
17 . The system of claim 16 , wherein each of the one or more fluid supply reservoirs and each of the one or more fluid return reservoirs comprises an inlet port, an outlet port, and a venting port.
18 . The system of claim 16 , wherein the fluid transport system is a gravity feed system such that the one or more fluid supply reservoirs or the one or more fluid return reservoirs are positioned below a plane P 1 of a dispense system providing a distance d 1 between the P 1 of the dispense system and a plane P 2 of the one or more fluid supply reservoirs or the one or more fluid return reservoirs.
19 . The system of claim 16 , wherein the fluid transport system is an active flow system such that a plane P 2 of the one or more fluid supply reservoirs or the one or more fluid return reservoirs are above a plane P 1 .
20 . The system of claim 16 , wherein the fluid transport system is an active flow system further comprising:
a vacuum to transport the polymerizable material from a header tank to the dispense head, the header tank comprising:
a level sensor to determine the level of the polymerizable material in the header tank;
a fill level L 1 ; and
a low level L 2 ; and
a pump enabling the polymerizable material to be transferred from the one or more fluid supply reservoirs or the one or more fluid return reservoirs to the header tank.