Method and system for interference lithography utilizing phase-locked scanning beams
US6882477B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Nov 9, 2000 |
| Grant date | Apr 19, 2005 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Nov 9, 2020 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG03H2225/21
- WIPO fieldOptics
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A method and system of interference lithography (also known as interferometric lithography or holographic lithography) which utilizes phase-locked, scanning beams (so-called scanning beam interference lithography, or SBIL). The invention utilizes a high-precision stage that moves a substrate under overlapped and interfering pairs of coherent beams. The overlapped beams interfere, generating fringes, which form a pattern “brush” for subsequent writing of periodic and quasi-periodic patterns on the substrate. The phase of the fringes in the overlapped region is phase-locked to the motion of the precision stage. The invention includes methods for forming, overlapping, and phase-locking interfering pairs of beams on a variety of substrates; methods for measuring and controlling the period, phase, and angular orientation of fringes generated by the overlapping beams; and methods for measuring and controlling the effects of stage mechanical and thermal drift and other disturbances during the writing process.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.