Patent ID: 8105758

Claim:
A maskless lithography system for exposing a pattern on a wafer having a photon-sensitive film disposed thereover, the system comprising: a photon source for generating a photon beam having a wavelength selected from a range of about 150 nanometers to about 1000 nanometers; a waveguide, disposed on a substrate, for propagating the photon beam in a plane parallel to a top surface of the wafer, a distance between the substrate and the top surface of the wafer being at least 1 μm; an in-plane modulator for modulating the photon beam; and an output vertical coupler for redirecting the photon beam from an in-plane direction to an out-of-plane direction towards the top surface of the wafer, wherein (i) the waveguide comprises at least one of a rib waveguide, a strip waveguide, a wire waveguide, or a rectangular waveguide, (ii) the in-plane modulator modulates the photon beam propagated by the waveguide in the plane parallel to the top surface of the wafer, and (iii) the output vertical coupler comprises a grating.