Residue-free silver nano patterns fabricated by reverse direct imprinting

In this work, we fabricated residue-free nanoscale structures with silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) using reverse direct nanoimprinting lithography (NIL) without the need for additional reactive-ion etching (RIE). The nanohole and line patterns without polymer residues were achieved by modulating the baking temperature for solvent evaporation, the imprinting pressure, and the temperature of the thermal NIL. Moreover, with sintering at 180°C for 30 minutes, the resistivity of the AgNP nanostructure was reduced to 4.88∗10^-6 cm-Q, comparable to that of bulk Ag, attributable to a reduction in surface resistance without agglomeration and pattern shrinkage. Our results indicate that controlling NIL temperature, pressure, and sintering temperature are critical to attaining residue-free metal layers with acceptable resistivity that are adaptable for various nanostructures.