Nano-Imprint Lithography (NIL) is considered a promising alternative to optical lithography for technology nodes at 22nm hp and beyond. Compared to other advanced and complex lithography methods, NIL processing is simple and inexpensive making it a widely accepted technology for pattern media and a potential cost effective alternative for CMOS applications. During the NIL process, the template comes into direct contact with the resist on the substrate and consequently template cleanliness plays a decisive role in imprinted substrate quality. Furthermore, if the template has any form of a defect such as resist residue, stains, particles, surface scratches, chipping and bumping etc. it can lead to poor quality imprints, low yield and throughput decreases. The latest ITRS roadmap has stringent CD, CD uniformity, surface roughness and defect control requirements for NIL templates. Any template cleaning process that is adopted must be able to remove defects while maintaining the critical parameters outlined by the ITRS. Aggressive chemistries (such as NH 4 OH or SC1 (NH 4 OH+H 2 O 2 +DI) and strong physical force treatments (such as MegaSonic & Binary Sprays) may cause damage to the template if not optimized. This paper presents the cleaning chemical effects on template surface roughness and CD at varying concentrations. The effect of physical force cleaning on fragile and sensitive pattern features is also presented. Particle & imprint resist removal efficacy at different process conditions is compared.