Deep proton lithography outside the vacuum setup

Abstract

There are several technologies for cheap mass fabrication of microelements. When we need elements of high structural depth, one of the most important technologies is the LIGA process. Since this method is time- and cost-consuming, there are a few alternative methods to be used instead of the LIGA. One of them is the use of the ion track lithography, especially deep proton lithography. So far, all the deep lithography setups have operated in vacuum. Accelerated protons were focused or formed by a mask to light a target placed in vacuum. Such an approach limited the size of the target and lengthened the time needed to place a new the target in the setup. It also needed a relatively small steering setup, adapted to operate in vacuum. That is why a novel proton lithography setup operating in the air has been proposed. The setup, whose size is no longer limited, allows for a quick access to the target. However, the parameters of the proton beam moving from vacuum into the air change, which affects the way protons interact with the target. This enforces adding several new elements to the classical proton lithography setup. In spite of that, such a setup is cheaper and easier to use than the classical one, but it allows for obtaining microelements of similar quality.