A maskless exposure device for rapid photolithographic prototyping of sensor and microstructure layouts

Abstract

A very cost effective maskless exposure device (MED) for the fast lithographic prototyping of various layouts is presented. The device is assembled using a digital light processing projector (DLP), an optical microscope, alignment stages and a web camera. Layouts created on a computer screen can be easily transferred to substrate surfaces without using expensive photomasks and the process can be repeated by introducing new drawings on the screen. Components are tuned for a constant area of exposure and a resolution of around 20 μm is possible at the moment without using any reduction lenses. The MED has been used in patterning the surfaces of silicon, glass, metal etc. successfully. The device can be assembled using commercially available components at a very minimum cost and can be effectively used in fast prototyping applications like in MEMS, microfluidics, patterning of sensor and electrode structures.