Photolithography with transparent reflective photomasks

A new type of photomask was fabricated by casting a prepolymer of a transparent, elastomeric polymer (polydimethylsiloxane, PDMS) against a Si(100) master whose surface has been patterned with V-shaped trenches or pyramidal pits using anisotropic etching. The PDMS replica, when placed in contact with a film of photoresist and illuminated, acts as a photomask. The sidewalls of the trenches and pits in the silicon master meet with the plateaus in dihedral angles of 54°; as a result, the PDMS replica selectively blocks the incident light in regions where it has sloping features by total internal reflection, and acts as a reflective contact mask for photolithography. The feasibility of this new type of photomask has been demonstrated by the fabrication of micropatterns in photoresist (and in an underlying silicon substrate) with smaller feature sizes and higher complexities than those present on the original chrome mask used in patterning the silicon master. The patterns produced using these elastomeric photomasks can be changed by varying the pressure applied in contacting them.