A low-cost digital lithography system supporting visual focusing and its application on optical fiber

We here present a DMD based low-cost digital lithography system, and report the results of microstructure fabrication experiments on both glass slide substrates and single mode optical fiber end faces. The system possesses the ability to rapidly fabricate microstructures in sub-micron scale, and the characteristic of fabricating on unconventional substrates such as optical fiber end faces. Through the processing procedure of “visible light – chromatic aberration and optical path difference correction – ultraviolet light”, the function of visual focusing was supported, without sacrificing part of the photoresist film. With above-mentioned features, the system is promising to accelerate the processing and construction of experimental sub-micron scale microstructure prototypes, especially micro-element prototypes on fiber end faces.