Patent ID: 8029716

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 nitride having a chemical composition that differs from that of the template, the amorphous nitride contacting the curable composition and thereby transferring a pattern into the curable composition, wherein the amorphous nitride includes at least one element selected from the group consisting of the element Ge, the elements of groups 4, 5, 6, 7, 8-10, and 13 of the IUPAC Periodic Table; photocuring the curable composition while the amorphous nitride is in contact with the curable composition, thereby forming a cured, imprinted composition; and removing the template from the cured, imprinted composition, the amorphous nitride 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.