Nanoimprint lithography of chromophore molecules under high-vacuum conditions

We report on high-vacuum nanoimprint lithography onto chromophore dye molecules embedded in optically inert polymer matrices. A specifically designed high-vacuum (10 −5 –10 −6 mbar ) chamber to perform nanoimprint lithography at temperatures up to 300 ° C and pressures up to 10 5 psi on areas of more than 25 cm 2 allows us to imprint in principle any class of thermoplastic molecules without loss of functionality. We tested our system by imprinting different polymers and polymer/dyes blends, demonstrating that the photoluminescence efficiency of light-emitting molecules is preserved in the lithography process.