Control of scanning beam interference lithography by real-time compensation of scan angle error through acousto-optic modulation and phase-shift grating interferometry for large area nanostructuring

Control of scanning beam interference lithography by real-time compensation of scan angle error through acousto-optic modulation and phase-shift grating interferometry for large area nanostructuring | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Control of scanning beam interference lithography by real-time compensation of scan angle error through acousto-optic modulation and phase-shift grating interferometry for large area nanostructuring Jongeun Oh, Qi Zhou, Donghyun Kim, Ika Oktavia Suryani, Runjia Han, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6202103/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 10 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract In scanning beam interference lithography (SBIL), increasing the size of overlapped beams can save time and costs during manufacturing and provides a more uniform distribution of light energy during the exposure step, leading to higher process stability. However, when the scan angle errors become significant, problems arise, such as reduced contrast due to smearing and decreased pattern accuracy as the beam size increases. In this study, we propose a design methodology for scan angle error correction control for true parallel scanning. The direction of the interference pattern is determined using a reference grating and a high-resolution rotary stage. An acousto-optic modulator is used to measure the phase shift of the reference grating through the movements in the scan direction to quantify the scan angle errors. We derive equations that describe the relationship between the scan angle error and the control input of piezo mirrors, resulting in the development of a beam rotation system capable of rotating the interference pattern by a minimum of 0.83 µrad. To validate the scan angle error-compensating SBIL system, we fabricated photoresist nanopatterns on a 4-inch wafer using an expanded beam. By expanding the beam, we successfully achieved a significantly smaller error tolerance of only 3.57 µrad, surpassing the performance of conventional SBIL systems and improving the throughput by more than two-fold, thus demonstrating a remarkable enhancement in efficiency. Scanning beam interference lithography Nanostructure fabrication Scan angle error compensation Beam alignment Parallel direct writing Phase-shift grating interferometry Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 14 Oct, 2025 Reviews received at journal 14 Sep, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 06 Sep, 2025 Reviews received at journal 28 Apr, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 21 Apr, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 18 Apr, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 18 Apr, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 20 Mar, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 14 Mar, 2025 First submitted to journal 11 Mar, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6202103","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":445859464,"identity":"4e188dd1-d96f-4107-80c3-0684bdf8bd30","order_by":0,"name":"Jongeun Oh","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Yonsei University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jongeun","middleName":"","lastName":"Oh","suffix":""},{"id":445859466,"identity":"794ad95f-186f-457f-9ceb-2e208620135d","order_by":1,"name":"Qi Zhou","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Yonsei 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