Applied Materials, Inc.
Method of building a 3D functional optical material layer stacking structure

Abstract:

Embodiments herein describe a sub-micron 3D diffractive optics element and a method for forming the sub-micron 3D diffractive optics element. In a first embodiment, a method is provided for forming a sub-micron 3D diffractive optics element on a substrate without planarization. The method includes depositing a material stack to be patterned on a substrate, depositing and patterning a thick mask material on a portion of the material stack, etching the material stack down one level, trimming a side portion of the thick mask material, etching the material stack down one more level, repeating trim and etch steps above `n` times, and stripping the thick mask material from the material stack.