Water predictions: Telling when a nanolithography mold will break through droplets

Ultraviolet nanoimprint lithography is powerful method of producing polymer nanostructures by pressing a curable resin onto a mold. However, there are no convenient methods to determine the lifetime of molds. Now, in a recent study in Japan, scientists develop a simple strategy to reliably predict the durability of mold materials by observing how water droplets make contact with the mold's surface as it wears out and distorts with use.