An additive manufacturing apparatus is adapted to produce a solid object from a liquid resin and includes a vat, a lifting platform, an optical pickup head, and a planar scanning module mounted with the optical pickup head and operable to move the optical pickup head on a two-dimensional plane. The optical pickup head includes a focusing unit that has a first laser source for producing a laser beam, at least one first objective lens, and a first collimator lens disposed between the first laser source and the at least one first objective lens, such that the laser beam passes through the first collimator lens and the at least one first objective lens to strike and cure the liquid resin during movement of the lifting platform away from the vat.

An optical system and a method for producing it is disclosed. The optical system has at least two separate optical components and an optical connection between them. In the inventive method, first and second optical component are provided, each having respective beam profiles. An arrangement of the first and second optical components and the form and target position of at least one beam-shaping element are specified. The beam-shaping element is produced using a three-dimensional direct-writing lithography method in situ at the target position to thereby obtain an optical component supplemented by the beam-shaping element. The supplemented optical component is placed and fixed on common base plate to thereby obtain the optical system. The optical systems produced with the present method can be used in optical data transfer, measurement technology and sensors, life sciences and medical technology, or optical signal processing.

A device for the lithography-based additive manufacturing of three-dimensional structures on a substrate, comprises a carrier element for carrying a substrate having a curved surface, a light engine designed for the dynamic patterning of light in an exposure field of said light engine, a material transport unit comprising a first drive means for transporting a material layer across the exposure field, second drive means for causing rotational movement of the substrate having the curved surface such as to establish a rolling contact of the curved surface on the material layer in a contact zone, said contact zone being arranged in the exposure field, and first control means configured to control said first and/or second drive means so that said rolling contact of the curved surface on the material layer is essentially slip-free.

According to one embodiment, a photomask includes a plurality of unit regions arranged in a first direction and a second direction crossing the first direction. Each of the unit regions includes a first region having a first light-shielding rate, and a second region having a second light-shielding rate different from the first light-shielding rate. The second region is provided around the first region. The unit regions include a first unit region and a second unit region having same size each other. A distance between the first unit region and a center of a range in which the unit regions are arranged is different from a distance between the second unit region and the center. A light-shielding rate of the first unit region is different from a light-shielding rate of the second unit region.

A substrate holder for use in a lithographic apparatus, the substrate holder including: a main body; a plurality of first burls provided on a first side of the main body and having end surfaces to support a substrate, wherein the first burls each include CrN; and a plurality of second burls provided on a second side of the main body.

A digital masking system includes a supporting structure for supporting a material, and a pattern imaging apparatus. The pattern imaging apparatus includes a light source device, multiple imaging devices that convert light from the light source device into a plurality of light beams each representing an image, and a combiner that combines the light beams into a single light beam which is projected toward a material.

A set of the pulses of light in a light beam is passed through a mask toward a wafer during a single exposure pass; at least a first aerial image and a second aerial image on the wafer based on pulses of light in the set of pulses that pass through the mask is generated during a single exposure pass, the first aerial image is at a first plane on the wafer and the second aerial image is at a second plane on the wafer, the first plane and the second plane being spatially distinct from each other and separated from each other by a separation distance along the direction of propagation; and a three-dimensional semiconductor component is formed.

Devices, systems, and/or methodologies are provided for three dimensional printing, for example, additive manufacturing, wherein an array of energy patterning (e.g., light patterning) modules are used in conjunction with an automated positional control system to coordinate implementation of patterning modules of the array. Implementation of the array can be controlled by a sensory feed-back.

Techniques for evaluating support for an object to be fabricated via an additive fabrication device are provided. In some embodiments, a three-dimensional representation of the object is obtained and a plurality of voxels corresponding to the representation of the object is generated. A first supportedness value may be assigned to a first voxel of the plurality of voxels based on an amount of support provided by a support structure to the first voxel, and a second supportedness value determined for a second voxel of the plurality of voxels, wherein the second voxel neighbors the first voxel, and wherein the second supportedness value is determined based on the first supportedness value of the first voxel and a weight value representing a transmission rate of supportedness through voxels of the plurality of voxels.

Systems, methods, components, and materials are disclosed for stereolithographic fabrication of three-dimensional, dense objects. A resin including at least one component of a binder system and dispersed particles can be exposed to an activation light source. The activation light source can cure the at least one component of the binder system to form a green object, which can include the at least one component of the binder system and the particles. A dense object can be formed from the green object by removing the at least one component of the binder system in an extraction process and thermally processing particles to coalesce into the dense object.