Microlens array photolithography (MAP) is a technique in which arrays of microlenses positioned close to photoresist reduce cm-sized figures on photomasks and form mum-scale images in the photoresist. This work demonstrates that MAP, using a single photomask, can generate patterns having different symmetries and periodicities from that of the lens array. This capability of MAP depends on (i) th...

A polymer microfluidic device has been fabricated using rapid prototyping techniques. The device was built to allow the formation and subsequent investigation of artificial bilayer lipid membranes (BLMs). A simple dry film photoresist stamp was used to hot emboss microfluidic channels into PMMA films. Laser micromachining was employed to form an aperture through the PMMA channels, across which ...

We report on the effect of ion energy on photoresist etching in an inductively coupled large area plasma source driven by a 13.56 MHz traveling wave with oxygen gas. To control the ion energy at the substrate surface, the electrode on which the substrate is placed is independently driven by a capacitively coupled 1 MHz power source. The etch rate increases with increasing ion energy for gas pre...

This article introduces a scanning probe lithography technique in which ultracompliant thermal probes are used in the selective thermochemical patterning of commercially available photoresist. The micromachined single-probe and multiprobe arrays include a thin-film metal resistive heater and sensor sandwiched between two layers of polyimide. The low spring constant s,0.1 N/md and high thermal i...

Industrialization of electrofluidic devices requires both high performance coating laminates and efficient material utilization on large area substrates. Here we show that screen printing can be effectively used to provide homogeneous pin-hole free patterned amorphous fluoropolymer dielectric layers to provide both the insulating and fluidic reversibility required for devices. Subsequently, we ...

Pulsed UV laser machining is an established method for production of 2.5D and 3D features in a wide variety of materials. In addition to direct laser patterning by ablation, exposure of photoresist using pulsed lasers can eliminate the need for large area contact photomasks. Half-tone machining, either by ablation or exposure, allows the production of high quality shallow features where the sur...

An early historical overview is first presented here on the use of simulation in optical microlithography, along with a description of the general physical models. This paper then turns to more recent development work in microlithography simulation, which has followed several very different tracts. Three of the most important areas are discussed here. The first involves improvements in the unde...

Absorbance-Modulation-Optical Lithography (AMOL) enables super-resolution optical lithography by simultaneous illumination of a photochromic film by a bright spot at one wavelength, λ1 and a node at another wavelength, λ2. A deep subwavelength region of the transparent photochromic isomer is created in the vicinity of the node. Light at λ1 penetrates this region and exposes an underlying photor...

We describe a method of imaging the intensity profiles of light in near-field lithographic experiments directly by using a sensitive photoresist. This technique was applied to a detailed study of the irradiance distribution in the optical near field with contact-mode photolithography carried out by use of elastomeric phase masks. The experimental patterns in the photoresist determined by scanni...