One-pass manufacturing of multimaterial colloidal particles using optical recognition-enhanced laser direct imaging lithography

We report on a maskless lithography rapid prototyping system for the fabrication of multimaterial hybrid structures in standard i-line negative photoresists enriched by the addition of functionalization particles. The system uses a combination of image recognition methods to detect particle positions in the photoresist and laser direct imaging to illuminate it with a focused ultraviolet laser. A set of acousto-optic deflectors, used to steer the laser, enables precise high-speed illumination of complex patterns. As a result, hybrid micron-sized structures composed of a base particle embedded in a photoresist frame can be manufactured using a one-pass process. (C) 2016 The Japan Society of Applied Physics.