• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers C
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.175-183
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• 2002

In this paper, the surface modification effect of self-assembled monolayer(SAM) of 1-dodecanethiol [$CH_3$($CH_2$)$_{11}$SH] used as an anti-adhesive film in micromolding process was studied. Monolayers of 1-dodecanethiol[$CH_3$(CH$_2$)$_{11}$SH] were obtained by immersing a metal place in pure 1-dodecanethiol. SAM film on the nickel plate has been examined by using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS). The focus has been placed on S-Ni bonding. From the XPS analysis, sulfur atoms were detected from the SAM film as a chemical composition of S-Ni. In order to measure an adhesion force of the SAM-coated nickel surface, atomic force microscopy(AFM) was used in force-distance mode, which whows the micro-adhesive force on solid surface. It was shown that adhesion forces measured from the SAM-coated nickel surface and the Ni surface without SAM coating were 3.52nN and 5.32nN, respectively. In order to investigate the effect of SAM coating on the surface foughness the replica in demolding process, hot embossing experiments were performed using a SAM-coated nickel master and a nickel master without SAM coating. Surface roughness of replica from the SAM-coated master showed 25nm and that of replica from master without SAM coating was 35nm. The smoother surface roughness of the replica from the SAM-coated, master is believed to result from reduction in the adhesion forces.ces.