Single photomask lithography for shape modulation of micropatterns

Abstract

Photolithography has been used to fabricate various micropatterns; however, recent efforts have focused on the scaling-down process to reduce the feature sizes of the desired patterns and not redefining existing micropatterns. Here, we describe single-mask photolithography method for the shape modulation of designed patterns with a single-mask that utilizes the intrinsic properties of a monolithic photoresist. Our novel approach can achieve various micropatterns with different open areas by adjusting a few fabrication parameters. To create the modulated micropatterns, the material and physical parameters (e.g., soft-bake temperature and exposure dose) were altered and successfully produced modulated shapes. This approach can produce well-controlled micropatterns with desired shapes over a large area with high throughput. Furthermore, our new approach enables access to numerous varieties of micropatterns and can be expandable to two dimensional (2D) and thre dimensional (3D) multiscale architectures.