Process Simulation for Contact Print Microlithography

摘要

Using a combination of experiment and simulations, we have studied the conformation of liquid microstruc-tures on both flat and corrugated, chemically heterogeneous substrates. The artificial surface patterns, which define regions of different surface energy, induce deformations of the liquid-solid contact line, which can either promote or impede capillary break-up and the formation of bulges. We study numerically the influence of the adhesion energies on the hydrophilic and hydrophobic surface areas, the pattern geometry and the deposited fluid volume on the liquid surface profiles. Moreover, we investigate the transfer of these microscopic ink patterns from the stamp surface to the target substrate during the printing process.