Lithography upon micromirrors

A systematic integration of the micromirror based lithography process is performed. Placing our primary concern on the pattern, a strategy for lithographic pattern generation is devised from the viewpoint of geometry. Accounting for the accumulation of instantaneous light energy irradiated from a rotated micromirror onto a translating substrate, the overlay intensity basis is defined as a three-dimensional pattern image per unit translation. The pattern generation process is conceptualized as dual pattern recognition in two contrary views, which are the substrate’s view and the micromirror’s view. The role of the virtual mask is defined in consideration of the reflection by the micromirror as the view exchange for dual recognition. A unique criterion, the occupancy limit, is devised for the approval of the reflection off the micromirror. A pattern generation method based on the occupancy limit is proposed for micromirror based lithography. A prototype lithography system based on the proposed method is implemented. To ensure the system works, lithography is performed on the prototype equipment to fabricate actual wafers and display panels. The results verify that the method is robust and flexible enough to generate lithographic patterns in any possible lithography condition. Moreover, the system is precise enough to attain the lithographic quality required by display panel manufacturers.