Maskless Nanolithography with Sub-Pixel Resolution for Microelectronics and Biomolecular Devices

Maskless technology capable of sub-100 nm patterning is attractive for manufacturing of many microelectronic and biomolecular devices. In numerous military applications, the number of different types of electronic modules required is large, whereas the quantities needed of each type of module are small, making the mask costs prohibitive. Previous maskless lithography approaches of imaging a spatial light modulator array by a reduction lens are fundamentally limited in resolution by an individual micromodulator size and put great demands on the projection lens. Thus, a maskless technology would be highly desirable that overcomes the basic limitation of the micromodulator pixel size (14-16 µm) and the projection lens reduction ratio (100-200), and is configurable as a massively parallel scanning system, thereby delivering moderate throughputs (2-10 wafers (200 mm) per hour) at very high resolutions (50-100 nm). This proposal presents such a technology: a novel sub-pixel maskless nanolithography system that provides the capability to pattern very high-resolution features without using a physical mask; enables rapid programmability of the patterns to be imaged for quick prototyping and moderate-volume production; and provides high-throughput imaging on large areas. This system will be attractive for numerous military as well as commercial applications in microelectronics and biotechnology.