Reinhard Voelkel

Advanced mask aligner lithography: Fabrication of periodic patterns using pinhole array mask and Talbot effect

The Talbot effect is utilized for micro-fabrication of periodic microstructures via proximity lithography in a mask aligner. A novel illumination system, referred to as MO Exposure Optics, allows to control the effective source shape and accordingly the angular spectrum of the illumination light. Pinhole array photomasks are employed to generate periodic high-resolution diffraction patterns by means of self-imaging. They create a demagnified image of the effective source geometry in their diffraction pattern which is printed to photoresist. The proposed method comprises high flexibility and sub-micron resolution at large proximity gaps. Various periodic structures have been generated and are presented.

Advanced mask aligner lithography: new illumination system

A new illumination system for mask aligner lithography is presented. The illumination system uses two subsequent microlens-based Köhler integrators. The second Köhler integrator is located in the Fourier plane of the first. The new illumination system uncouples the illumination light from the light source and provides excellent uniformity of the light irradiance and the angular spectrum. Spatial filtering allows to freely shape the angular spectrum to minimize diffraction effects in contact and proximity lithography. Telecentric illumination and ability to precisely control the illumination light allows to introduce resolution enhancement technologies (RET) like customized illumination, optical proximity correction (OPC) and source-mask optimization (SMO) in mask aligner lithography.

Fabrication and characterization of linear diffusers based on concave micro lens arrays

We present a new approach of beam homogenizing elements based on a statistical array of concave cylindrical microlens arrays. Those elements are used to diffuse light in only one direction and can be employed together with flys eye condensers to generate a uniform flat top line for high power coherent light sources. Conception, fabrication and characterization for such 1D diffusers are presented in this paper.

Two step process for the fabrication of diffraction limited concave microlens arrays

A two step process has been developed for the fabrication of diffraction limited concave microlens arrays. The process is based on the photoresist filling of melted holes obtained by a preliminary photolithography step. The quality of these microlenses has been tested in a Mach-Zehnder interferometer. The method allows the fabrication of concave microlens arrays with diffraction limited optical performance. Concave microlenses with diameters ranging between 30 microm to 230 microm and numerical apertures up to 0.25 have been demonstrated. As an example, we present the realization of diffusers obtained with random sizes and locations of concave shapes.

Resolution enhancement for advanced mask aligner lithography using phase-shifting photomasks

The application of the phase-shift method allows a significant resolution enhancement for proximity lithography in mask aligners. Typically a resolution of 3 µm (half-pitch) at a proximity distance of 30 µm is achieved utilizing binary photomasks. By using an alternating aperture phase shift photomask (AAPSM), a resolution of 1.5 µm (half-pitch) for non-periodic lines and spaces pattern was demonstrated at 30 µm proximity gap. In a second attempt a diffractive photomask design for an elbow pattern having a half-pitch of 2 µm was developed with an iterative design algorithm. The photomask was fabricated by electron-beam lithography and consists of binary amplitude and phase levels.

Microlens laser beam homogenizer: from theory to application

Many applications in laser manufacturing like semiconductor lithography, micro-machining, micro-structuring or material-analysis require a homogeneous intensity distribution of the laser beam over its complete profile. Refractive and diffractive beam homogenizer solutions have been developed for this challenge, but their applicability strongly depends on the physics of the individual laser beam. This paper investigates the influence of laser beam properties like spatial coherence for microlens beam homogenizers. Diffraction at the small lens apertures and interference effects of periodic arrays are explained by using diffraction theory. Different microlens beam homogenizer configurations are presented. Design considerations that might be helpful for the layout of a specific microlens beam homogenizer system are discussed. It is shown that, among other factors, the Fresnel number is the most important quantity to characterize the influence of diffraction effects on microlens laser beam homogenizers. The influence of the spatial partial coherence will be explained for the example of a Flys eye condenser. For cw laser sources, the influence of a rotating diffuser plate on grating interference and speckles effects is investigated. Finally, the theory will be compared to some practical examples in planar laser measurement techniques, in combustion diagnostics and micromachining with Excimer lasers.

Refraction limit of miniaturized optical systems: a ball-lens example

We study experimentally and theoretically the electromagnetic field in amplitude and phase behind ball-lenses across a wide range of diameters, ranging from a millimeter scale down to a micrometer. Based on the observation, we study the transition between the refraction and diffraction regime. The former regime is dominated by observables for which it is sufficient to use a ray-optical picture for an explanation, e.g., a cusp catastrophe and caustics. A wave-optical picture, i.e. Mie theory, is required to explain the features, e.g., photonic nanojets, in the latter regime. The vanishing of the cusp catastrophe and the emergence of the photonic nanojet is here understood as the refraction limit. Three different criteria are used to identify the limit: focal length, spot size, and amount of cross-polarization generated in the scattering process. We identify at a wavelength of 642 nm and while considering ordinary glass as the ball-lens material, a diameter of approximately 10 µm as the refraction limit. With our study, we shed new light on the means necessary to describe micro-optical system. This is useful when designing optical devices for imaging or illumination.

Multifunctional Micro-Optical Elements for Laser Beam Homogenizing and Beam Shaping

Refractive, diffractive and reflective micro-optical elements for laser beam shaping and homogenizing have been manufactured and tested. The presented multifunctional optical elements are used for shaping arbitrary laser beam profiles into a variety of geometries like, a homogeneous spot array or line pattern, a laser light sheet or flat-top intensity profiles. The resulting profiles are strongly influenced by the beam properties of the laser and by diffraction and interference effects at the micro-optical elements. We present general design rules for beam shaping and homogenizing. We demonstrate the application of such multifunctional micro-optical elements for a variety of applications from micro-laser machining to laser diagnostic systems.

Construction of a programmable multilayer analogue neural network using space invariant interconnects

A programmable multilayer neural network is under construction to illustrate the advantages of optical interconnects (scaleability, bandwidth) and to overcome the disadvantages of optical devices (limited precision, nonideal transfer characteristics, lack of subtraction). The disadvantages will be surmounted with the help of dedicated software engineering and additional optical hardware. The complete system design is summarized, and the construction of the first matrix vector multiplier subunit is detailed together with first test results. Finally, the progress made on the remaining subunits is reported with a perspective to future work.

Advanced mask aligner lithography (AMALITH)

Mask aligner lithography is very attractive for less-critical lithography layers and is widely used for LED, display, CMOS image sensor, micro-fluidics and MEMS manufacturing. Mask aligner lithography is also a preferred choice the semiconductor back-end for 3D-IC, TSV interconnects, advanced packaging (AdP) and wafer-level-packaging (WLP). Mask aligner lithography is a mature technique based on shadow printing and has not much changed since the 1980s. In shadow printing lithography a geometric pattern is transferred by free-space propagation from a photomask to a photosensitive layer on a wafer. The inherent simplicity of the pattern transfer offers ease of operation, low maintenance, moderate capital expenditure, high wafers-per-hour (WPH) throughput, and attractive cost-of-ownership (COO). Advanced mask aligner lithography (AMALITH) comprises different measures to improve shadow printing lithography beyond current limits. The key enabling technology for AMALITH is a novel light integrator systems, referred to as MO Exposure Optics® (MOEO). MOEO allows to fully control and shape the properties of the illumination light in a mask aligner. Full control is the base for accurate simulation and optimization of the shadow printing process (computational lithography). Now photolithography enhancement techniques like customized illumination, optical proximity correction (OPC), phase masks (AAPSM), half-tone lithography and Talbot lithography could be used in mask aligner lithography. We summarize the recent progress in advanced mask aligner lithography (AMALITH) and discuss possible measures to further improve shadow printing lithography.