Roll-to-roll digital photolithography

A roll-to-roll photolithography system, comprising:

• an inelastic conveyor;
• a web handling apparatus configured to pass a flexible substrate around the conveyor such that the substrate and the conveyor move together at least from a first conveyor location to a second conveyor location;
• an image acquisition apparatus configured to measure positions of a first set of alignment marks on the substrate at the first conveyor location;
• an exposure apparatus configured to patternwise expose a photosensitive material on the flexible substrate at the second conveyor location;
• and
• an image processor configured to receive the measured positions of the first set of alignment marks, and to compare the measured positions with reference positions of the first set of alignment marks;
• wherein the exposure apparatus is configured to patternwise expose the photosensitive material based on the comparison between the measured positions and the reference positions.

A roll of flexible circuit film, comprising:

• a flexible substrate wound into a roll;
• and
• a plurality of discrete multilayered circuits formed on the substrate, each multilayered circuit comprising a plurality of circuit layers;
• wherein the substrate exhibits physical distortion in at least one area on which is disposed at least a first one of the multilayered circuits, the distortion being characterized by an in-plane distortion dimension;
• and
• wherein the circuit layers exhibit a layer-to-layer registration error in the at least one area that is smaller than the distortion dimension.