MASKLESS LITHOGRAPHY SYSTEMS

In maskless photolithography (also known as "maskless optical lithography"), the radiation that is used to expose a photosensitive emulsion (or photoresist) is not projected from, or transmitted through, a photomask. Instead, most commonly, the radiation is focused to a narrow beam which directly writes the image into the photoresist, one or more pixels at a time. A key advantage of maskless photolithography is the ability to change lithography patterns from one run to the next, without incurring the cost of generating a new photomask. This may prove useful for double patterning.

Electron beam lithography is the most commonly used form of maskless photolithography due to the wide range of electron beam systems available accessing an equally wide range of electron beam energies (~10eV to ~100keV). Direct laser writing (multiphoton lithography) is a very popular form of maskless photolithography, which offers flexibility and ease of use in R&D processing. It offers rapid patterning at sub-micrometre resolutions and offers cost effectiveness when working with feature sizes of approx. 200 nm or greater. Interference lithography (holographic lithography) is another form of maskless photolithography, but is limited to forming periodic patterns only. Ultraviolet light (UV), which has a shorter wavelength than visible light, is used for improved image resolution down to 100 nm. Maskless photolithography is commonly used for generating photomasks for semiconductor and LCD industries. Focused ion beam lithography is commonly used for sputtering away defects or uncovering buried features.

RotaLab offers a wide range of high-throughput maskless photolithographic patterning systems for research and production.