Method and apparatus for maskless photolithography
First Claim
1. A maskless photolithography system for large area photoforming of photosensitive materials comprising:
- a. a computer system for generating mask patterns and alignment instructions;
b. a maskless patterned light generator, operably connected to said computer system, for receiving said mask patterns and alignment instructions, radiating a patterned light beam directed at the photosensitive material, wherein said patterned light beam is generated in conjunction with said alignment instructions; and
c. a movable mount to provide relative movement of said maskless patterned light generator and the photosensitive material exposed to said patterned light, wherein the pattern of said patterned light beam is generated in conjunction with the relative movement of said maskless patterned light generator and the photosensitive material to provide large area photoforming of the photosensitive material.
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus to create two dimensional and three dimensional structures using a maskless photolithography system that is semi-automated, directly reconfigurable, and does not require masks, templates or stencils to create each of the planes or layers on a multi layer two-dimensional or three dimensional structure. In an embodiment, the pattern generator comprises a micromirror array wherein the positioning of the mirrors in the micromirror array and the time duration of exposure can be modulated to produce gray scale patterns to photoform layers of continuously variable thickness. The desired pattern can be designed and stored using conventional computer aided drawing techniques and can be used to control the positioning of the individual mirrors in the micromirror array to reflect the corresponding desired pattern. A fixture for mounting of the substrate can be incorporated and can allow the substrate to be moved three dimensions. The fixture can be rotated in one, two, or three directions.
-
Citations
20 Claims
-
1. A maskless photolithography system for large area photoforming of photosensitive materials comprising:
-
a. a computer system for generating mask patterns and alignment instructions;
b. a maskless patterned light generator, operably connected to said computer system, for receiving said mask patterns and alignment instructions, radiating a patterned light beam directed at the photosensitive material, wherein said patterned light beam is generated in conjunction with said alignment instructions; and
c. a movable mount to provide relative movement of said maskless patterned light generator and the photosensitive material exposed to said patterned light, wherein the pattern of said patterned light beam is generated in conjunction with the relative movement of said maskless patterned light generator and the photosensitive material to provide large area photoforming of the photosensitive material. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
-
-
14. A maskless photolithography method for large area photoforming of photosensitive materials comprising:
-
a. receiving mask pattern information and alignment information corresponding to a desired pattern to be created on the photosensitive material;
b. generating mask patterns based on received mask pattern information and alignment information;
c. providing said mask patterns to a patterned light generator;
d. generating a patterned light beam;
e. directing said patterned light beam onto a first exposure area of the photosensitive material;
f. exposing the first exposure area of the photosensitive material to said gray scale patterned light beam;
g. providing relative movement of the photosensitive material and the maskless photolithography system to allow exposure of a second exposure area; and
h. repeating steps a-g to sequentially expose the entire surface of the photosensitive material;
wherein said patterned light beam incident on the photosensitive material photosculpts the photosensitive material to create contiguous patterns by sequential exposure corresponding to said patterned light beam. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18)
-
-
19. A computer system for large scale, maskless photolithography comprising:
-
a. a computing device comprising a display, a central processing unit (CPU), operating system software, memory for storing data, a user interface, and input/output capability for reading and writing data;
said computing device operably connected to and operating in conjunction with a maskless patterned light generator;
b. computer program code for;
1) receiving mask pattern information and alignment information corresponding to a desired pattern to be created on a photosensive method;
2) generating mask patterns based on received mask pattern information and alignment information; and
3) providing said mask patterns to a maskless pattern generator;
whereby said computing device operates in conjunction with said maskless photolithography system and executes said computer code to sequentially provide mask patterns to said maskless pattern generator. - View Dependent Claims (20)
-
Specification