Nanoindentation analysis for mechanical properties of electroless NiP imprinting mold replicated from self-assembled-monolayer modified master mold

A NiP imprinting mold with patterns, whose size is from nanometer to submicrometer (170, 500, and 1000nm diameter), was fabricated by electroless deposition of NiP on a 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) modified master mold. The NiP deposit as a replicate mold was then detached from the master mold. The initial NiP deposition in patterns of the master mold was investigated; moreover, nanoindentation was successfully performed on a single NiP pattern for investigating the hardness. The NiP had a similar grain size in different sizes of patterns of the master mold during the initial deposition, as well as the same hardness of the NiP patterns (approximately 12 GPa) was observed. These results indicated that the initial NiP deposition and hardness of NiP were not size dependent above 170 nm. The surface morphology of the NiP detached from the master mold and NiP pattern of different sizes were investigated as well.