D.J. McGee
The College of New Jersey,
United States
Keywords: maskless, lithography, diffractive, photonics
Summary:
We describe a new maskless microprinting technology based on the photomechanical response of azopolymers to polarized light. This is a vectorial lithography process, capable of writing surface microstructures in real-time, enabling accessible and efficient fabrication of conventional and novel surface relief microstructures, and with considerable advantages over existing multistep lithographic processes. Because vectorial lithography utilizes optical polarization (and not intensity) as its basic mechanism, it can write single-line, asymmetric structures as well as finely-chirped periodic structures that are either too complex or simply impossible to write with conventional lithography. These structures play key roles in emerging sensing, information display, and anticounterfeiting applications, all of which have commercial, research, and national security implications.