Patent ID: 8114331

Claim:
A method, comprising: imprinting a template onto a curable composition, wherein the template has a patterned surface, and wherein a release layer that is located at the patterned surface includes an amorphous inorganic oxide having a chemical composition that differs from that of the template, wherein the release layer is unreactive and mechanically durable, the amorphous oxide contacting the curable composition and thereby transferring a pattern into the curable composition, wherein the amorphous oxide includes at least one element selected from the group consisting of the elements of groups 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 of the IUPAC Periodic Table and the elements Ge, P, As, Sb, and Bi; photocuring the curable composition while the amorphous oxide is in contact with the curable composition, thereby forming a cured, imprinted composition; and removing the template from the cured, imprinted composition, the amorphous oxide being selected so that the adhesion energy of the cured, imprinted composition to the release layer is less than what the adhesion energy of the cured, imprinted composition to the template would be in the absence of the release layer.