Photolithography system

Abstract

A photolithography system includes a plurality of cantilevers, preferably formed in a silicon wafer. Each cantilever includes a tip located near the free end of the cantilever and a waveguide which extends along the length of the cantilever and intersects the tip. An aperture is formed at the apex of the tip so that light travelling through the waveguide may exit the tip. A light switch is included in the waveguide to control the passage of light to the tip of the cantilever. The array of cantilevers is positioned adjacent a wafer which is to be lithographed, in the manner of an atomic force microscope operating in the attractive mode. Each cantilever is a compound structure, including a thick portion and a thin portion, the latter having a preselected mechanical resonant frequency. The cantilevers are caused to vibrate at their resonant frequency and the actual frequency of vibration is detected and used to maintain a uniform spacing between the tip of the cantilever and the surface of a photoresist layer which is to be exposed. Preferably, both the vibrational motion and the control of the tip-photoresist spacing are effected by means of a capacitive plate located adjacent the cantilever. The cantilever array is scanned over a photoresist layer on the wafer, preferably in a raster pattern, and the individual light switches are operated so as to expose individual pixels on the photoresist layer.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.