High-speed and high-precision digital maskless lithography based on DMD oblique scanning with pulse illumination

Abstract

Recently, maskless lithography based on a digital micromirror device (DMD) is being studied by a promising technique for high-variety micro-fabrication. The patterning speed in the DMD lithography is potentially limited by a DMD frame rate, which hinders wider applications of the lithographic technique. Another problem of DMD lithography is the pixelated shape of the pattern generated by DMD, which degrades the patterning precision. In this paper, to solve the speed and precision problems in DMD lithography, a novel patterning method based on DMD oblique scanning with pulse illumination is proposed. Unlike the existing oblique scanning methods that cannot achieve a high scanning speed, the proposed method enhances not only the patterning precision but also the scanning speed.