The technology disclosed relates to high utilization of donor material in a writing process using Laser-Induced Forward Transfer. Specifically, the technology relates to reusing, or recycling, unused donor material by recoating target substrates with donor material after a writing process is performed with the target substrate. Further, the technology relates to target substrates including a pattern of discrete separated dots to be individually ejected from the target substrate using LIFT.

Embodiments disclosed herein include a lithographic patterning system and methods of using such a system to form a microelectronic device. In an embodiment, the lithographic patterning system includes an actinic radiation source, a stage where a major surface of the stage is for supporting a substrate with a resist layer, and a first prism over the stage, where the first prism comprises a first face that is substantially parallel to the major surface of the stage. In an embodiment, the lithographic patterning system further comprises a second prism, where the second prism comprises a first surface that is substantially parallel to a second surface of the first prism, and where a second surface of the second prism has a reflective coating.

The present invention concerns an optical system for spatiotemporally shaping the wavefront of the electric field of a light beam (1) to be projected into a target volume (5), where the propagation axis is axis z, to create 3D patterned illumination in the target volume (5), comprising a pulsed laser source, configured to have an illumination pattern whose transversal surface at the target volume being superior to the diffraction limit of the optical system, at least one intermediate optical element (4) which is a dispersive grating for performing temporal focusing of the light beam (1), located, on the propagation axis (z), where an image of the illumination pattern is formed, for modulating the phase and/or the amplitude of the electric field of the light beam, and a second optical element (3) which is a spatiallight modulator for modulating the phase of the electric field of the input light beam, and for realizing spatiotemporal multiplexing to create 3D patterned illumination in the target volume (5) by replicating the illumination pattern, so as to have several replicated illumination patterns in the target volume (5), and controlling the position with transversal coordinates X, Y and axial coordinate Z of each replicated illumination pattern in the target volume (5).

A method of making a three-dimensional structure including substructures is provided. The method includes directing laser light from a microscope objective through a photopolymerizable material to form a plurality of substructures each having at least one vertical wall directly attached to a vertical wall of an adjacent substructure. The substructures are individually formed in a sequence such that any second substructure that is formed in a location vertically disposed between the microscope objective and a first substructure has a wall that extends horizontally a shorter distance than a wall of the first substructure if a third substructure will subsequently be formed directly attached to the wall of the first substructure. The method is useful for minimizing passing laser light through a portion of an already formed substructure during formation of the three-dimensional structure.

A scaffold includes struts that intersect at nodes. In some instances, a cross section of the cores has at least one dimension less than 100 microns. The core can be a solid, liquid or a gas. In some instances, one or more shell layers are positioned on the core.

A method for improving a design of a patterning device. The method includes (i) obtaining mask points of a design of a mask feature, wherein the mask feature corresponds to a target feature in a target pattern to be printed on a substrate; and (ii) adjusting locations of the mask points to generate a modified design of the mask feature based on the adjusted mask points.

A method for fabricating a nanoantenna array may include forming a resist layer on a substrate, forming a focusing layer having a dielectric microstructure array on the resist layer, diffusing light one-dimensionally in a specific direction by using a linear diffuser, forming an anisotropic pattern on the resist layer by illuminating the light diffused by the linear diffuser on the focusing layer and the resist layer, depositing a material suitable for a plasmonic resonance onto the substrate and the resist layer on which the pattern is formed, and forming a nanoantenna array on the substrate by removing the resist layer and the material deposited on the resist layer. A light diffusing angle by the linear diffuser and a size of the dielectric microstructure are determined based on an aspect ratio of the pattern to be formed.

A method of assembling a three-dimensional printing system includes providing a plurality of components, providing a plurality of spacer rings, and measurement, analysis and assembly steps. The components include a light engine, an adaptive support apparatus, a plurality of elongate struts, and a support plate. The measurement, analysis and assembly steps include (1) measuring a scale factor for the light engine, (2) determining a selection of one or more of the spacer rings based upon the measured scale factor, and (3) assembling the components with the determined selection of one or more spacer rings.

In an aspect, a method for making a metal-containing material comprises steps of: forming a metal-containing hydrogel from an aqueous precursor mixture using a photopolymerization; wherein the aqueous precursor mixture comprises water, one or more aqueous photosensitive binders, and one or more aqueous metal salts; and thermally treating the metal-containing hydrogel to form the metal-containing material; wherein the metal-containing hydrogel is exposed to a thermal-treatment atmosphere during the step of thermally treating; wherein a composition of the metal-containing material is at least partially determined by a composition of the thermal-treatment atmosphere during the thermally treating step.

The technology disclosed relates to high utilization of donor material in a writing process using Laser-Induced Forward Transfer. Specifically, the technology relates to reusing, or recycling, unused donor material by recoating target substrates with donor material after a writing process is performed with the target substrate. Further, the technology relates to target substrates including a pattern of discrete separated dots to be individually ejected from the target substrate using LIFT.