BACKGROUND

Field of Art

The present disclosure relates to a drop pattern forming method for forming a drop pattern on a substrate in which the drop pattern is corrected.

Description of the Related Art

Nano-fabrication includes the fabrication of very small structures that have features on the order of 100 nanometers or smaller. One application in which nano-fabrication has had a sizeable impact is in the fabrication of integrated circuits. The semiconductor processing industry continues to strive for larger production yields while increasing the circuits per unit area formed on a substrate. Improvements in nano-fabrication include providing greater process control and/or improving throughput while also allowing continued reduction of the minimum feature dimensions of the structures formed.

One nano-fabrication technique in use today is commonly referred to as nanoimprint lithography. Nanoimprint lithography is useful in a variety of applications including, for example, fabricating one or more layers of integrated devices by shaping a film on a substrate. Examples of an integrated device include but are not limited to CMOS logic, microprocessors, NAND Flash memory, NOR Flash memory, DRAM memory, MRAM, 3D cross-point memory, Re-RAM, Fe-RAM, SU-RAM, MEMS, and the like. Exemplary nanoimprint lithography systems and processes are described in detail in numerous publications, such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,349,241, 8,066,930, and 6,936,194, all of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein.

The nanoimprint lithography technique disclosed in each of the aforementioned patents describes the shaping of a film on a substrate by the formation of a relief pattern in a formable material (polymerizable) layer. The shape of this film may then be used to transfer a pattern corresponding to the relief pattern into and/or onto an underlying substrate.

The patterning process uses a template spaced apart from the substrate and the formable material is applied between the template and the substrate. The template is brought into contact with the formable material causing the formable material to spread and fill the space between the template and the substrate. The formable liquid is solidified to form a film that has a shape (pattern) conforming to a shape of the surface of the template that is in contact with the formable liquid. After solidification, the template is separated from the solidified layer such that the template and the substrate are spaced apart.

The substrate and the solidified layer may then be subjected to additional processes, such as etching processes, to transfer an image into the substrate that corresponds to the pattern in one or both of the solidified layer and/or patterned layers that are underneath the solidified layer. The patterned substrate can be further subjected to known steps and processes for device (article) fabrication, including, for example, curing, oxidation, layer formation, deposition, doping, planarization, etching, formable material removal, dicing, bonding, and packaging, and the like.

SUMMARY

A drop dispensing method comprises providing a preliminary drop pattern that defines a predetermined location on a substrate for a center of mass of each drop of a plurality of drop, the preliminary drop pattern having a center; adjusting the preliminary drop pattern to generate an adjusted drop pattern by radially shifting, relative to the center, each drop of a subset of drops of the plurality of drops from the predetermined location by a radial offset, each drop of the adjusted drop pattern corresponding to a drop of the preliminary drop pattern; dispensing the plurality of drops according to the adjusted drop pattern onto the substrate; and contacting a template or a superstrate with the dispensed drops, during which the center of mass of each drop of the subset of drops is radially displaced to a displaced location on the substrate prior to the plurality of drops forming a continuous layer. The radial offset of each drop of the subset of drops is selected such that the displaced location of each drop of the subset of drops is within 50 μm of the predetermined location of the corresponding drop of the preliminary drop pattern.

A method of generating a drop pattern comprises providing a preliminary drop pattern that defines a predetermined location on a substrate for a center of mass of each drop of a plurality of drops, the preliminary drop pattern having a center; and adjusting the preliminary drop pattern to generate an adjusted drop pattern by radially shifting, relative to the center, each drop of a subset of drops of the plurality of drops from the predetermined location by a radial offset, each drop of the adjusted drop pattern corresponding to a drop of the preliminary drop pattern. The radial offset of each drop of the subset of drops is selected such that when the plurality of drops is dispensed onto the substrate according to the adjusted drop pattern, and when a template or superstrate is contacted with the dispensed drops, during which the center of the mass of each drop of the subset of drops is radially displaced to a displaced location on the substrate prior to the plurality of drops forming a continuous layer, the displaced location of each drop of the subset of drops is within 50 μm of the predetermined location of the corresponding drop of the preliminary drop pattern.

A dispensing system comprises a first chuck configured to hold a template or superstrate; a second substrate chuck configured to hold a substrate; a processor configured to: access a preliminary drop pattern that defines a predetermined location on the substrate for a center of mass of each drop of a plurality of drops, the preliminary drop pattern having a center; and adjust the preliminary drop pattern to generate an adjusted drop pattern by radially shifting, relative to the center, each drop of a subset of drops of the plurality of drops from the predetermined location by a radial offset, each drop of the adjusted drop pattern corresponding to a drop of the preliminary drop pattern. The radial offset of each drop of the subset of drops is selected such that when the plurality of drops is dispensed onto the substrate according to the adjusted drop pattern, and when the template or superstrate is contacted with the dispensed drops, during which the center of the mass of each drop of the subset of drops is radially displaced to a displaced location on the substrate prior to the plurality of drops forming a continuous layer, the displaced location of each drop of the subset of drops is within 50 μm of the predetermined location of the corresponding drop of the preliminary drop pattern. The dispensing system further comprises a fluid dispenser configured to dispense formable material on the substrate in accordance with the adjusted drop pattern; a positioning system configured to contact the formable material with the template or superstrate in the template or superstrate chuck; and a curing system configured to cure the formable material under the template or superstrate so as to form cured formable material on the substrate.

A method of making an article comprises providing a preliminary drop pattern that defines a predetermined location on a substrate for a center of mass of each drop of a plurality of drop, the preliminary drop pattern having a center; adjusting the preliminary drop pattern to generate an adjusted drop pattern by radially shifting, relative to the center, each drop of a subset of drops of the plurality of drops from the predetermined location by a radial offset, each drop of the adjusted drop pattern corresponding to a drop of the preliminary drop pattern; dispensing the plurality of drops according to the adjusted drop pattern onto the substrate; contacting a template or a superstrate with the dispensed drops, during which the center of mass of each drop of the subset of drops is radially displaced to a displaced location on the substrate prior to the dispensed drops combining to form a pattern or a layer; forming the pattern or the layer of the plurality of dispensed drops on the substrate as a result of completing the contacting of the template or superstrate with the dispensed drops; and processing the formed pattern or layer to make the article. The radial offset of each drop of the subset of drops is selected such that the displaced location of each drop of the subset of drops is within 50 μm of the predetermined location of the corresponding drop of the preliminary drop pattern.

These and other objects, features, and advantages of the present disclosure will become apparent upon reading the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, when taken in conjunction with the appended drawings, and provided claims.

