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Alternative to the standard lithographic mask; permit the manufacture of miniaturized antenna and the routing of electrical pathways over a non-planar inkjet printhead
About
The Problem Consumer demand has generated the need for increasingly more complicated and smaller electronic systems. Many advances have been made to this effect, but a fundamental obstacle still remains. Size reductions are frustrated by current manufacturing methods employed to create the tracks connecting electronic systems. As the pitch of interconnects reduces, and the width of the individual tracks falls to the sub-micron level, current lithographic processes confine these tracks to a 2-dimensional surface on which space is becoming more and more of a premium. Until now, sub-micron, 3 dimensional tracks have simply been impossible to produce using traditional lithographic processes. The Solution Engineers at two Universities have developed a novel lithographic method for the creation of electronic circuitry over non-planar surfaces within volumes using Computer-Generated Holograms. The technology promises to: Be an alternative to the standard lithographic mask used in the production of PCBs and Integrated Circuits, Permit the manufacture of miniaturized antenna, Permit the routing of electrical pathways over a non-planar inkjet printhead.
Applications
Other applications exist, but work to date has revolved around manufacture of demonstrators for the above. Specific aims of the work currently ongoing are: To improve the manufacture of holographic masks, To evaluate mask performance accurately, To identify further application areas.