Research

While the resolution of conventional optical lithography is determined by the wavelength, this lithographic technology is determined by the processing resolution of the metal nanostructure of the photomask. By irradiating the metal nanostructure of the photomask with infrared light, this technology can transfer patterns with the resolution of a single nanometer. This technology is unique since the shape of the mask pattern can be transferred as such by simply irradiating it with infrared light, high aspect ratio processing is expected because light propagation is used instead of near-field light, and it is possible to not only produce line and space patterns but also triangle, nano-gap, chain, and other shapes. It is expected to apply this technology to photonic crystals, plasmonic solar cells, and the technology for moth-eye structure formation on the surface of optical elements, which requires the transfer of nano-patterns over a relatively large area.