Implication of the light polarisation for UV curing of pre-patterned resists

UV curing of resists after imprint is of interest for mix and match applications or when the thermo-mechanical stability of the resist has to be increased. In those cases the imprint into a curable resist like the mr-L 6000XP is followed by a UV exposure. This exposure is different from an exposure during UV lithography, as the pre-patterned resist results in a lateral intensity modulation, depending on the pattern geometries (width, distance, height, residual thickness) and depending on potential polarisation directions as well, which may be induced by reflecting elements within the optical path. We have simulated the exposure of line patterns of different geometries under polarisation of the incident light under directions parallel and perpendicular to the imprinted lines. Corresponding UV curing experiments after imprint suggest that the stabilisation should be feasible at adequate increase of the exposure dose independent from the polarisation direction.