Enhancement of patterning speed for DMD-based maskless lithography through pulse-exposure method

Abstract

Low patterning speed is the major issue in maskless lithography. This thesis proposed a new method to enhance the patterning speed in maskless lithography using digital micromirror device (DMD). This new method outstands the patterning speed limit resulting from a frame rate of a DMD. Theoretical consideration of several parameters and description of algorithms were carried out to implement the proposed method. The results of simulation and experiment showed that high-resolution patterning in maskless lithography using DMD is possible through vector image algorithm described in this thesis, so that the importance of the proposed method could be emphasized. The experimental results showed that it was possible to improve the speed of patterning in maskless lithography without decreasing the pattern quality under the same frame rate of a DMD.