Fabrication of suspended micro-structures using diffsuser lithography on negative photoresist

We report the results of diffuser lithography applied to a negative-type thick photoresist to fabricate 3-dimensional microstructures suspended on supports. When UV light passes through a diffuser film, the direction of the light is randomized because of the irregular surface of the diffuser. By exposing through a diffuser on a Cr-mask, a circular or an elliptical cross-section of exposed region can be formed on a spin-coated photoresist. When applied to a negative-type thick photoresist, diffuser lithography gives a 3-dimensional circular cross-section of the exposed and cross-linked regions, which could be used for making suspended microstructures. The size of the exposed region has been controlled by the dose of the UV light. The current study clearly shows that the depth of exposed region of photoresist is affected by the geometry of the pattern. By controlling the depth of the exposed region using different pattern size, beam structures suspended on the support structures could be fabricated by single exposure process. The characteristics of the diffuser lithography process were investigated on a negative type photopolymer, SU-8, with different doses of UV-light and different geometry.