Basic Theory

The Lloyds Mirror approach uses division of wave front at a mirror surface to produce twosource interference patterns. The basic setup is shown in Figure 1 which was first described by
English physicist Humphrey Lloyd. Following some mathematical steps, an expression for the
intensity of the light at any point on the observation screen can be derived by similar to the
derivation in case of Youngs double slit experiment. Let two waves of light emerging from real
source S and appearing to emerge from virtual source S is separated by a distance d, which can
be assumed to be small. The distance from the sources to the screen is D. The two waves are

superimposed on
Fig 1. Showing Lloyd Mirror setup for point source.

the screen at a point P at some distance, x, from the center line, which is defined by the center
between the two sources, which in turn is the plane of the mirror. The intensity at P is determined
by the phase difference between the two waves, and that phase difference is related to the path
length difference, . The angle is equal to x/D, but that is also equal to /d, by reference to
similar triangles. The phase difference will be the wavenumber times the path length difference.
However, in the Lloyds mirror, there is an extra phase shift of at the reflection from the mirror
surface. Thus the phase difference is given by equation 1.
=k . =

2
. d sin

(1)

The intensity at the point P will be the square of the amplitude, A, which is the sum of that
contributed by the two beams, each with amplitude a. From equation 1. ,

Now for bright fringes

=2 m

; or,

2
x
1
. d =2 m+

D
2

( )

for m= 0, the fringe spacing can be considered as =

; or, x =

2
x
. d

(m+ 12 ) Dd

. Thus

D
2 d . But the above condition is valid

only in case of point source. In our experiment, we are going to use a spatially filtered collimated
beam, and by using aperture of particular size, we can make the extended beam fall
simultaneously on the mirror as well as the sample, such that reflected beam also falls on the
sample and creates a two beam interference pattern of definite periodicity (), depending on the
angle between the two interfering beams following the equation 2 as illustrated in figure 2.
=

sin 1+sin 2

Fig. 2 showing two beam interference producing 1D periodic structures.

(2)

For 1 = 2= ,

= 2 sin .

(3). The resultant interference pattern is given by the two beam interference intensity distribution
following the equation 4 as
I = A2= 2a2 (1+cos ) = 4a2 cos2 (/2)

(4)

where a is the amplitude of individual beam and is the phase difference between the two
beams. Lloyds-Mirror Interferometer is designed to produce high-contrast interference pattern
with a high spatial-frequency over a large exposure area and hence is used for the lithographic
exposures in this work.
Experimental Setup
The Lloyds-Mirror Interferometer consists of an aluminum mirror (Newport broadband mirrors)
having roughness = /2 and a very high reflectivity (> 92%) for the He-Cd laser is placed
perpendicular to the sample holder. The aluminum mirror is chosen due to its enhanced UV
reflectivity compared to other mirrors and for its essentially constant reflectivity over a broad
range of angles. The interferometer is designed to expose up to 10 mm substrate surface. To
reduce the effects of scattering and diffraction due to edges, we have used a mirror which is
larger than the exposed substrate. The laser (442 nm) is expanded through a microscopic
objective having magnification 20X and spatially filtered through a pinhole to generate a clean
Gaussian beam which is further collimated using a UV lens (Edmund Optics). The collimated
laser beam passes through a rectangular aperture and illuminates both the mirror and the sample.
The part of the light which is reflected from the mirror surface interferes with the portion of the
beam that is illuminating the sample directly. This interference will give a grating pattern with a
periodicity given by Equation 3, where is the wavelength (442nm) of the laser beam and the
angle between the incidence light and the sample normal. By changing the incidence angle
with the rotation stage, the periodicity (p) can easily be adjusted from 500 nm to 2.5 m in this
case.

Fig.3 showing experimental setup in NRF, IIT Delhi

Fabrication of 1D grating structures
Pre-exposure Steps: The substrate used is commercially available soda lime glass used as glass
slides (1.5 mm thickness), which are cut into proper shapes using diamond cutter. The substrates
are cleaned repeatedly using soap solution, deionized water and acetone/IPA and heated in
hotplate. AZ1518 positive photoresist is used to spin-coat the substrates because of its sensitivity
lying between 330nm to 450nm. Layer thickness of the photoresist depends on the viscosity of
the resist and the spin speed. From the data sheet of the positive photoresist, spin coat
programming was carried out for 4000 rpm to get a film thickness~1.5 m. After spin coating,
the coated substrates are soft baked at 100 0C for 90 sec.
Exposure: Exposure Dose is the Energy per unit area falling on the surface, (D) i.e. D =
Energy /Area. As we know there is a minimum energy needed for initiate chemical reaction in
the photoresist. Thus we need to calculate the minimum exposure time t. We know intensity of
the collimated beam is given by I, where I=power/area = [(Energy time)/Area] = [(Energy
Area)/ Time] = D/time .Thus
Exposure time, T = Exposure dose / Intensity.

(5)

Exposure energy from 70-120 mJ/cm2 is recommended as a starting point to determine energy
required to replicate chosen mask line width. Electronic Power meter was used to measure the
collimated beam power, falling on the area of the detector and intensity was calculated as a ratio
of the measured power to the exposed area of the detector which is assumed to be the same
intensity at the sample surface assuming free space propagation. A factor of 2 was introduced in
the denominator in eqn. 5 for the case of 2 beam interference.
Post exposure treatment: The exposed substrate is developed using AZ 726 Developer, mixed
with DI water in the ratio 2:1 by a batch immersion of seconds. Since positive photoresist is used
post exposure baking (PEB) is not required. Positive resists form an indene carboxylic acid
during the exposure which makes them soluble in aqueous alkaline solutions and thus the
exposed regions gets washed away whereas , the unexposed regions remains.

Results and Discussions

Using the Lloyd Mirror Interference Lithography setup, both 1D and 2D grating patterns are
fabricated on positive photoresist. For different incidence angles, different periodicities were
observed in the SEM images with period 798nm (theoretically 800 nm for = 16.03 0) & 511nm
(theoretically 500 nm for = 26.230. Fig 4 shows the SEM images of two grating pattern having
periodicity of 798nm & 511nm.

Fig. 4 (a), (b )SEM mages of fabricated grating structures for different

exposure having periodicity 798nm, 511nm respectively. (c) Showing 2D
grating structure
2D photonic structures (square lattice) of periodicity 550nm were also fabricated on the same
setup with slide modification. For 2D square lattice a rotatable mount was used to rotate the
substrate about its axis. SEM images of 2D square lattice is shown in fig 4.c.