Submicrometer-scale pattern generation via maskless digital photolithography
Minsu Kang, Changhyun Han, Heonsu Jeon
Abstract
Maskless photolithography based on digital micromirror devices (DMDs) is considered the next-generation low-cost lithographic technology. However, DMD-based digital photolithography has been implemented only for micrometer-scale pattern generation, whereas sophisticated photonic devices require feature sizes of approximately 100 nm. In this study, we adopt a high-magnification objective lens ( <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <mml:mrow class="MJX-TeXAtom-ORD"> <mml:mn>200</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> <mml:mo>×</mml:mo> </mml:math> ) for a custom-built digital photolithography system to generate submicrometer-scale patterns. We also improvise techniques to augment the digital photolithography, pattern tilting, and grayscale exposure. We demonstrate that photonic crystal band-edge lasers of various lattice structures and periods can be quality-assessment testbeds.