Subwavelength Maskless All-Light Lithographic System

DARPA is seeking tools to fabricate advanced semiconductor devices with 100 nm features without the need for masks, avoiding the high front-end fixed costs associated with photomask fabrication. Current processes for producing features smaller than the wavelength of the light require complex mask structures anad phase shift masks, and have low yield. To overcome these limitations and meet the DARPA requirements, Physical Optics Corporation (POC) proposes to develop a new and cost-effective Subwavelength Maskless All-Light Lithographic (SMALL) system based on near-field nanobeam array direct-writing, capable of writing beyond the diffraction limit at 100 nm or less, at a rate of several wafers per hour. In Phase I POC will fabricate a SMALL system to demonstrate feasibility of maskless lithography for subwavelength resolution without bulky vacuum charged-particle systems. In Phase II POC will develop a prototype that shows the feasibility of writing features 100 nm and smaller at a rate of several wafers per hour.