Talbot lithography as an alternative for contact lithography for submicron features

In this paper we show that using optical photolithography it’s possible to obtain submicron features for periodic structures using the Talbot effect. To use the Talbot effect without the need of an absolute distance measurement between the mask and the wafer we integrate over several exposures for varying wafer mask distances. Here we discuss the salient features of ‘integrated Talbot lithography’. Particularly, we show that to obtain good contrasts an excellent control of the illumination light is essential; for this we use the MO Exposure Optics (MOEO) developed by SUSS MicroOptics (SMO). Finally we show that 1μm and 0.55μm diameter holes can be made using this technique.