NANOIMPRINT LITHOGRAPHY METHOD FOR MAKING A PATTERNED MAGNETIC RECORDING DISK USING IMPRINT RESIST WITH ENLARGED FEATURE SIZE

摘要

A method for making a patterned-media magnetic recording disk using nanoimprint lithography (NIL) enlarges the size of the imprint resist features after the imprint resist has been patterned by NIL. The layer of imprint resist material is deposited on a disk blank, which may have the magnetic layer already deposited on it. The imprint resist layer is patterned by NIL, resulting in a plurality of spaced-apart resist pillars with sloped sidewalls from the top to the base. An overlayer of a material like a fluorocarbon polymer is deposited over the patterned resist layer, including over the sloped resist pillar sidewalls. This enlarges the lateral dimension of the resist pillars. The overlayer is then etched to leave the overlayer on the sloped resist pillar sidewalls while exposing the disk blank in the spaces between the resist pillars. The resist pillars with overlayer on the sloped resist pillar sidewalls is then used as a mask for etching the disk blank, leaving a plurality of discrete islands on the disk blank.