SCIENCE SPIN-OFFS

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DOLFIN could also prove to be better than traditional lithography when making complex multilayer structures, he adds. “For example, it can create a six-layer 3D pattern in 19 process steps, while being cheaper, faster and more environmentally friendly. To compare, traditional photopolymer lithography requires 43 process steps to do the same. It is compatible with a broad range of substrates too, including silicon, glass and polymers, which means that we are able to produce flexible and hybrid devices using the technique.”
Although DOLFIN is a powerful and versatile approach for direct optical patterning of inorganic materials, we still have some way to go before it becomes a mature technology, admit the researchers. “Our next step is to further optimize and scale up our process and compare our laboratory results to industry benchmarks,” says Talapin.

The technique is detailed in Science DOI: 10.1126/science.aan2958.

Jul 28, 2017
Optical lithography goes photoresist-free
Photolithography is an important manufacturing process widely used in the semiconductor industry that employs photoresists (usually made from polymers) whose solubility change when illuminated with ultraviolet light. Although it is precise and can generate patterns with nanoscale resolution, it is limited in that it cannot easily pattern nanomaterials such as quantum dots (which are increasingly being used in flat-panel displays, for example). A new photoresist-free technique, developed by researchers at the University of Chicago and the Argonne National Laboratory, both in Illinois in the US, could help overcome this problem.

http://nanotechweb.org/cws/article/tech/69550