Water soluble protective coatings for engineered optical devices

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to optical devices, and more specifically, protective coatings for optical devices and methods for preparing protective coatings on optical devices and other devices. In one or more embodiments, a method for protecting a photoresist on a workpiece is provided and includes depositing a photoresist layer on a first surface of a substrate, and depositing a protective coating on the photoresist layer disposed on the first surface, wherein the protective coating contains a water-soluble polymeric material. Thereafter, the method includes exposing a second surface of the substrate to one or more fabrication processes, where the first surface is covered by the photoresist layer and the protective coating, and the second surface is uncovered. Thereafter, the method further includes removing the protective coating by at least partially dissolving the water-soluble polymeric material with a removal solution containing water or an aqueous solution.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.