3D nanoimprint for NIR Fabry-Pérot filter arrays: fabrication, characterization and comparison of different cavity designs

We report on the fabrication of miniaturized NIR spectrometers based on arrays of multiple Fabry-Pérot (FP) filters. The various cavities of different height are fabricated via a single patterning step using high resolution 3D nanoimprint technology. Today, low-cost patterning of extended cavity heights for NIR filters using the conventional spin-coated nanoimprint methodology is not available because of insufficient coating layers and low mobility of the resist materials to fill extended cavity structures. Our investigation focuses on reducing the technological effort for fabrication of homogeneous extended cavities. We study alternative cavity designs, including a new resist and apply large-area 3D nanoimprint based on hybrid mold and UV Substrate Conformal Imprint Lithography (UV-SCIL) to overcome these limitations. We compare three different solutions, i.e. (1) applying multiple spin coating of the resist to obtain thicker initial resist layers, (2) introducing a hybrid cavity (combination of a thin oxide layer and the organic cavity) to compensate the height differences, and (3) optimizing the imprint process with a novel resist material. The imprint results based on these methods demonstrate the implementation of NIR FP filters with high transmission intensity (best single filter transmission >90 %) and small line widths (<5 nm in full width at half maximum).

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