Patent ID: 7498120

Claim:
A method of micro-fabricating high frequency electromagnetic wave source components, comprising: providing a substrate; providing a UV-curable photoresist; using said UV-curable photoresist and photolithography to define at least one from the group consisting of: an output cavity, a waveguide and an alignment feature, on said substrate, wherein using a UV-curable photoresist and photolithography to define at least one of an output cavity, a waveguide or an alignment feature comprises: coating said substrate with a UV-curable photoresist; heating said UV-curable photoresist coated substrate at a predetermined temperature and for a predetermined heating duration to drive off solvent in said UV-curable photoresist to obtain a solid UV-curable photoresist layer having a predetermined thickness; masking said UV-curable photoresist coated substrate with a mask defining said at least one of an output cavity, a waveguide or an alignment feature; exposing said masked UV-curable photoresist coated substrate to UV light comprising a predetermined intensity for a predetermined exposure time to obtain cured and uncured photoresist; removing said uncured photoresist leaving said at least one of an output cavity, a waveguide or an alignment feature having substantially vertical sidewalls; and plating said at least one of an output cavity, a waveguide or an alignment feature; and using said UV-curable photoresist and photolithography to define at least one from the group consisting of: a coupling slot, a waveguide iris and a pumpout feature, on said substrate.