New approaches to lithography

In early September, a number of doctoral students from the SNI visited the company SwissLitho at Technopark Zurich together with scientists from the Paul Scherrer Institute. SwissLitho began by giving the visitors a demonstration of its NanoFrazor technology, which uses a heatable probe to produce and simultaneously characterize high-precision nanostructures in a process known as thermal scanning probe lithography (t-SPL).

The group photo was converted into a three-dimensional microscale and nanoscale structure in a matter of minutes using the Mix-and-Match technology. (Images: Thomas Mortelmans)

The doctoral students were then treated to a premiere when a SwissLitho employee presented the new Mix-and-Match technology for the first time. This combines the t-SPL of the NanoFrazor with a laser lithography system from Heidelberg Instruments (Germany) to create a hybrid technology that speeds up the production of components featuring both microstructures and nanostructures.

“We enjoyed a vivid demonstration in which a photo of our group was converted into a three-dimensional pattern in the space of a few minutes,” reports doctoral student Thomas Mortelmans, who organized the visit to SwissLitho.