Characterization of “Bulk

Lithography” Process for

Prasanna Gandhi
Associate Professor
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Indian Institute of Technology Bombay,
Mumbai, Maharashtra 400076, India
e-mail: gandhi@me.iitb.ac.in
Kiran Bhole1
Research Scholar
Suman Mashruwala Advance
Micro-engineering Laboratory,
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Indian Institute of Technology Bombay,
Mumbai, Maharashtra 400076, India
e-mail: kiranbhole@iitb.ac.in
Fabrication of Three-
Dimensional Microstructures
Various ways of fabricating a three-dimensional (3D) component in a single-layer expo-
sure using spatial variation of exposure dose have been presented in the literature. While
some of them are based on dynamic mask process, more recently, a process based on
varying intensity of a scanning Gaussian laser beam termed as “bulk lithography” has
been proposed. In bulk lithography, the entire varying depth 3D microstructure gets fab-
ricated because of spatial variation of intensity of laser imposed at every point in single
layer scan. For the bulk lithography process, this paper first presents experimental char-
acterization of unconstrained depth photopolymerization of resin upon exposure to Gaus-
sian laser beam. Experimental characterization carried out for two resins systems:
namely 1,6 hexane diol-diacrylate (HDDA) and trimethylolpropane triacrylate (TMPTA),
over relatively wider range of Arþ laser exposure dose and time, show behavior well
beyond Beer–Lambert law. A unified empirical model is proposed to represent the nondi-
mensional depth variation with respect to the time and energy of exposure for both resins.
Finally, using these models, successful fabrication of several microstructures including
micro-Fresnel lens, textured curved surface, otherwise difficult or impossible to fabricate,
is demonstrated. Several advantages of the bulk lithography as compared to other similar
processes in the literature are highlighted. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4025461]

1 Introduction image [15–18] or by scanning the laser beam on the resin surface
[19].
Microstereolithography (MSL) [1–12] has been established as a
Former method, termed as thick film exposure-controlled projec-
technology to fabricate 3D microstructures. In this process, 3D
tion MSL [15–18], uses digital micromirror device (DMD) to real-
CAD model of the microstructure is sliced into number of two-
ize spatial variation by projecting gray-scale images or,
dimensional (2D) layers (plane perpendicular to direction of propa-
alternatively, binary bitmap images on the transparent substrate. In
gation of light), and each of the layers is then cured and stacked on
the later case, the required energy variation is achieved by appro-
the previous. The main variants of MSL found in the literature are
priate control of the time exposure of individual bitmaps. In addi-
1. scanning MSL [2,6,7] and tion, a diffuser is required in this case to homogenize the beam
2. dynamic mask MSL [5,8]. intensity variation thus produced. The amount of energy exposure
received by each pixel on the resin surface in this method is shown
Although both the technologies build part layer-by-layer, as the
to be sum of the contribution of rays from multiple micromirrors
name suggests, scanning method scans the laser beam on photo-
using ray tracing method. In the later method, termed as “bulk lith-
polymer vat to cure a layer. However, dynamic mask process
ography” [19], input Gaussian laser beam is focused and scanned
exposes the entire layer defined by the dynamic mask to UV light.
over the interface of the transparent substrate and resin. The spatial
There are further other variants of MSL process such as two-
variation of exposure in this case is achieved by varying speed and/
photon MSL [9,11,12], super IH process [13], and so on. Stair-
or intensity of the laser beam while scanning. Variation of energy
stepping effect in the direction of stacking of layer is commonly
exposure achieved by varying intensity at constant scan speed is
observed in all forms of the MSL process. Process planning based
practically easy to implement [19]. Thus, process uses spatial varia-
on parameter estimation method is presented in the literature [14]
tion of intensity of laser imposed at every point of scan to fabricate
to minimize the stair-stepping effect on the lateral surface of the
the entire varying depth 3D microstructure in single layer. Desired
part fabricated by MSL technique. Method estimates change in
variation of intensity without need for homogenizer and direct cor-
the laser scan speed, on the free surface of vat, required to fabri-
relation between vertical height of the 3D structure and the local
cate overhanging features with minimum stair-stepping.
speed and intensity are some of the advantages of this process.
More recently, fabrication of 3D microstructures without the
Classically, the above-mentioned correlation between depth
need of vertical stacking of layers has been presented [15–19].
and exposure has been obtained by using Beer–Lambert law
In this method, the general concept is to impose spatial variation
[5,6,9,20]. However, deviation from Beer–Lambert law is
of exposure dose on the transparent substrate placed over the resin
observed while using higher dose of exposure to fabricate higher
surface. The 3D microstructure gets fabricated on the bottom
depth/aspect ratio structures with bulk lithography process. This
of the substrate according to the exposure dose received. The
paper presents complete experimental characterization of this
microstructure is fabricated either by projecting entire 2D
deviation for two different acrylate-base photopolymer resins
used for bulk lithography. Experimental results of cured depth
show intriguing dependence on the time of exposure even if the
1
Corresponding author. total exposure dose is the same. These results are presented in
Contributed by the Manufacturing Engineering Division of ASME for publication
in the JOURNAL OF MICRO- AND NANO-MANUFACTURING. Manuscript received January
nondimensional form to carry out further analysis and modeling.
29, 2013; final manuscript received September 16, 2013; published online October A unified semi-empirical cured depth model applicable under
10, 2013. Assoc. Editor: Nicholas Fang. wide range of energy exposure is proposed in the paper. Finally,

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 by applying the proposed cured depth model, successful fabrica-
tion of several variable depth 3D microstructures is demonstrated.
Interestingly, additional texturing effects are observed on actually
fabricated microstructure with ultrahigh exposure dose, analysis,
and characterization of which is beyond the intended scope of this
work.
2 “Bulk Lithography”: From CAD Model to Actual
Component
As mentioned in Sec. 1, the desired spatial variation of expo-
sure dose in bulk lithography is achieved by varying speed and
intensity of the laser. This section explains steps of processing
given CAD model toward realizing actual component using
bulk lithography and sets motivation for the main theme of the
paper. Figure 1 shows a typical CAD model, the proposed slic-
ing strategy (Fig. 1(a)), and the experimental schematics for
bulk lithography (Fig. 1(b)). Unlike the slicing in conventional
MSL systems (perpendicular to the direction of propagation of
light), in bulk lithography CAD model would be sliced along
the direction of propagation of light. Thus, the sliced xz planes
(x being direction of line scan and z being the depth direction)
are obtained from slicing method for each line scan of laser.
These planes get fabricated and eventually get stacked in y
direction on subsequent line scans on the bottom side of the
UV transparent substrate with unconstrained resin depth as seen
in Fig. 1(b). To fabricate the desired depth profile obtained by
slicing CAD model, accurate spatially varying laser energy ex-
posure needs to be given while scanning. Thus, to achieve high
precision in microfabrication using bulk lithography, it becomes
important to set accurate functional relationship of cured depth
and process parameters (speed corresponding to time of expo-
sure and intensity in this case). Development of such relation-
ship (model) based on extensive experimental characterization
is the central theme of the paper. Classically, Beer–Lambert
law has been used as a model to determine this relationship.
However, as we see in Sec. 4 experimental results show inter-
esting characteristics far away from Beer–Lambert law, espe-
cially in the high exposure domain.
Fig. 1 Schematic representations of (a) CAD model slicing
strategy in bulk lithography and (b) cured depth experimental
setup and 3D microfabrication using bulk lithography [19]
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3 Experimental Details
3.1 Experimental Setup. Figure 1(b) shows schematic repre-
sentation of the experimental setup used for characterization of
cured depth and fabrication using bulk lithography. The details of
components of the setup are listed below:
1. UV light source: Arþ laser, wavelength 351.1 nm
(Coherent—Innova 300C) [21];
2. Focusing lens: UV-fused silica plano convex lens
(Newport—SPX010) [22] (this gives focused spot
size ¼ 6 lm and depth of focus ¼ 100 lm);
3. Linear x-y-z stages (Holmarc) [23];
4. Acoustic optical modulator (AOM) (Model 35085-3-350;
Neos Technologies) [24]; and
5. Custom made tank.
Arþ laser beam from the source is tightly focused using lens
below the glass substrate at the glass resin interface (Fig. 1(b)). In
AOM, by varying the amplitude of the acoustic waves in the
medium through which the laser light passes, the intensity of the
diffracted output laser beam is modulated. In setup, AOM is inter-
faced with the data acquisition system dSPACE 1104 [25] for
accurately controlling the energy exposure in the curing experi-
ments and fabrication of 3D microstructure. To achieve uncon-
strained depth fabrication, a glass substrate is placed on the
support projections provided in the tank filled with photopolymer
vat (Fig. 1(b)). A motorized linear stage [23] enables placing the
glass substrate at the focal plane of the laser within accuracy of
10 lm. Since the laser light is focused through first air and then
glass (at the bottom of the glass substrate), the focal distance is
determined and adjusted in accordance with the Snell’s law
(Fig. 1(b)). For fabrication of microcomponents, additional x and
y direction motions are imparted to the laser beam using a recently
developed scanner [2], which keeps the focus of the laser on sub-
strate during scanning. The input given to AOM is further
synchronized with xy motion to achieve the desired 3D geometry.
3.2 Chemicals Used. Two different UV curable resins pre-
pared by homogeneously mixing photoinitiator, benzyl ethyl ether
(BEE) with 4 wt. % concentration [26] in monomer, TMPTA and
HDDA are used for the microfabrication. Penetration depth, Dp,
and critical energy exposure, Ec, are the important properties
of the resin, which determine the curing characteristics. Penetra-
tion depth and critical energy exposure are 0.2506 mm and 100.29
mJ/cm2 for TMPTA-based resin and 0.242 mm and 111 mJ/cm2
for the HDDA-based resin, respectively. Furthermore, to under-
stand the development of curing under the influence of different
physical phenomenon, the rate constants of reaction and coeffi-
cients are presented in Table 1 for the HDDA-based resin.
3.3 Design of Experiments. To study the cured depth charac-
teristic of photopolymerized voxel, experiments are conducted
under wide range of laser energy exposure (0.150–110 J/cm2), till
the condition of saturation of the cured depth is attained. Table 2
shows the process parameters namely spot power and exposure
duration with their range and step variation during cured depth
experiments. These process parameters are varied to different
levels to achieve the designed range of energy exposure. The
exposure duration in the experiment is varied using AOM in the
step of 0.1 s. To avoid the effect of residual energy dose on
the neighboring voxel, sufficiently large intermittent distance
(500 lm) is maintain between consecutive voxel.
Three samples with the same set of experimental parameters
are prepared in order to observe the process stability and repeat-
ability of the results. Postprocessing (cleaning) of the formed
voxel is carried out by acetone. Due to ease of operation and
acceptable accuracy in characterization, experimentally obtained
photopolymerized voxels are characterized with the help of opti-
cal microscope Olympus MX51 [27].
Transactions of the ASME
 Table 1 List of parameters used in the discussion of development of curing

Parameter Value Unit Reference

2 3
Photoinitiator initial concentration, [S]0 2.23  10 mol/m [29]
Molar absorptivity of photoinitiator, e 20 m2/mol [29]
Diffusion coefficient of photoinitiator, DS 3  1010 m2/s [29]
Diffusion coefficient of oxygen, DO2 1  1010 m2/s [30]
Quantum yield for initiator, u 0.1 — [29]
Rate constant of propagation in photopolymerization, kp 103 L/(mol  s) [31]
Rate constant of radical scavenging by oxygen, kt0 7  1014 L/(mol  s) [30]

4 Experimental Results and Discussion

Classical Beer–Lambert law of light propagation in absorbing
media is generally used in predicting the cured depth, Cd, on the
assumption that the absorbance of primary radicals formed is the
same as that of the original photoinitiator [20]. Furthermore,
according to this law, the energy of exposure E decreases expo-
nentially with depth. The following form of predicted cured depth
(where E ¼ Ec) based on Beer–Lambert law has been widely used
in literature [5,6,20,28] presenting successful prediction of cured
depth for the Gaussian beam
 
Emax
Cd ¼ Dp ln (1)
Ec

Thus, in case of the model by Beer–Lambert, predicted cured

depth would not change even though the intensity of laser or the
time of exposure is changed keeping Emax the same. In addition,
as Emax goes on increasing, the Cd would increase indefinitely.
However, as the experimental results suggest in this section,
prediction of cured depth by Beer–Lambert law is valid over a
limited range of energy exposure, and hence additional characteri-
zation and modeling is required under a wider range of energy ex-
posure. To have generalized experimental characterization and
modeling irrespective of the resin used, the experimental results
of cured depth and energy are normalized using the resin proper-

ties. Thus, dimensionless cured depth is considered to be Cd =Dp
and dimensionless energy is considered to be ½lnðEmax =Ec Þ. To
study the curing characteristics, the results of dimensionless cured
depth against dimensionless energy are then presented along with
the prediction based on Beer–Lambert law on the same plot.
Beer–Lambert law with these dimensionless parameters becomes
a straight line with unity slope. As we see later in this section,
these dimensionless parameters are extremely helpful in repre-
senting curing characteristic of several resins on the same graph in
unified manner.
Figure 2(a) shows the comparison of our experimental results
(with error bar) with the experimental results (both in terms of
dimensionless parameters) of various resins from the published
literature [6,20,28] over a limited range of energy exposure. We
observe that our results are very well in agreement with the pub-
lished data, which follow Beer–Lambert law (straight line with
unit slope here) over this domain. Less variation in the error bars
show fair repeatability of the experimental results. Figure 2(b)
shows the experimental results of dimensionless cured depth
over a wider range of energy dose. We observe, contrary to
Beer–Lambert law, a slow transition and further saturation

Table 2 Details of process parameters designed for cured

depth experiments

Parameter Range Step Fig. 2 Experimental results of dimensionless cured depth

against dimensionless energy at constant duration (s) of expo-
Power (lW) 10–150 10 sure for TMPTA-based resin (a) under lower energy exposure
Exposure duration (s) 0.1–2 0.1 and comparison with published results and (b) under wide
range of energy exposure [19]

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Fig. 3 Experimental results of dimensionless cured depth
against dimensionless energy at constant duration (s) of expo-
sure along with proposed cure depth model: (a) resin, TMPTA
and (b) resin, HDDA
(regimes II and III in Fig. 2(b)) at high energy exposure, which is
reported here for the first time to the best of our knowledge. Fur-
thermore, Fig. 3(a) shows experimental results of dimensionless
cured depth at constant laser exposure duration (time) along with
the model based on Beer–Lambert law. Similar to Fig. 2(b), it is
observed that the cured depth increases linearly first and then satu-
rates at higher energy dose. It can be further observed that, as the
time of exposure increases, the linear part of curve shifts to right
and saturation limit goes on increasing. The experimentally
observed dimensionless cured depth characteristics in low energy
band (Fig. 3(a)) is studied from point of view of effect of oxygen
and transport of species on photopolymerization kinetics from the
literature [29–33]. Experimental study and theoretical modeling
presented in Refs. [30–33] have shown that, in free radical photo-
polymerization (as in our case), the high rate of radical scavenging
by O2 molecules inhibits the polymerization process. It should be
noted here that radicals are formed only after incident photons
interact with photoinitiator. Furthermore, the process also set up
the diffusion of species (oxygen, monomer, initiator, and primary
radical molecules) due to respective concentration gradients. The
dynamic concentration of O2 and initiator [S] in 2D can be given
as [29,32]
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 2 
d ½ O2  @ ½ O2  @ 2 ½ O2 
¼ kt0 ½O2 ½R þ DO2 þ (2)
dt @x2 @z2
 2 
d½S 1 @ ½S @ 2 ½S
¼  ueI½S þ DS þ (3)
dt 2 @x2 @z2
where kt0 is the rate constant of radical scavenging by oxygen, R
is the free radical concentration, u is the quantum yield for initia-
tor, e is the molar absorptivity of initiator, I is the light intensity,
DO2 is the diffusion coefficient of oxygen, DS is the diffusion
coefficient of photoinitiator, and x and z are the lateral and depth
coordinates, respectively. In above equations, the left hand side
term is the accumulation, the first term on right hand side is con-
sumption by reaction, and the last term is diffusion. Due to large
value of kt0, dissolve oxygen rapidly reacts with primary radicals
to form stable peroxy radicals. Hence, during initial part of expo-
sure duration, due to presence of oxygen, inhibition time, tinhib is
typically observed and approximated as follows [30]
½O2 cons
tinhib  (4)
/eIS
where, [O2]cons is the amount of oxygen that needs to be con-
sumed (103 M: dissolved oxygen because, in our case, the top
surface is covered; Fig. 1(b)), and / is the initiator efficiency. The
denominator of Eq. (4) is also represented as initiation rate, Ri
[30]. After inhibition, during the remaining part of the exposure
duration polymerization proceed under the influence of diffusion
of different species, in particular the initiator and oxygen mole-
cules. Note also that the inhibition reaction rates are 4 orders of
magnitude higher than propagation rate in photopolymerization
(Table 1), which implies that unless inhibition consumes almost
all the oxygen in the region of exposure, photopolymerization will
not continue.
Based on the aspects of photopolymerization kinetics men-
tioned above, the experimentally observed rightward shift of the
dimensionless cure depth–energy curves in the lower energy
domain (Fig. 3(a)) can be explained as follows: Consider constant
energy dose line (Fig. 3(a)) where total number of photons deliv-
ered would be constant; however, the rate of delivery would be
different. The points of intersection of this line on cured
depth–energy curve of lesser duration represents higher light in-
tensity and vice versa. The exposure dose set with high-intensity
irradiation (point A in Fig. 3(a) corresponding to exposure dura-
tion 0.3 s) increases the rate of initiation, Ri, and drastically
reduces the inhibition time (see Eq. (4); value of the order,
25 ms). Hence, in first 25 ms, almost all the oxygen close to the
bottom of glass substrate would be consumed and radicals remain-
ing thereafter would initiate polymerization. Furthermore, due to
lesser exposure duration, compensation of initiator and oxygen
through diffusion is less and hence less consumption of photons
and less scavenging of formed radicals by dissolved oxygen.
Thus, photons penetrate to a greater depth for photopolymer reac-
tion, thereby yielding higher depth of structure formed. On the
contrary, allowing higher time of exposure with lesser light inten-
sity (point D in Fig. 3(a)) reduces the rate of initiation Ri and,
thus, increases the inhibition time (value of the order, 167 ms,
still much less than exposure duration of 2 s). Furthermore, the
large exposure duration allows the initiator species (diffusion con-
stant for initiator is 3 times higher than that of O2 (Table 1)) to
diffuse to the area of the reaction and absorb more photons, thus
limiting the amount of light going to a greater depth in compari-
son with the previous case. If limited photon reaches higher depth,
radical formation would be limited at higher depth and even if
oxygen inhibition quickly consumes a part of formed radicals,
photopolymerization would be limited. As a result, the depth of
photopolymerization is limited in case of higher duration of expo-
sure as observed at point D in Fig. 3(a). Moreover, the saturation
of the cured depth and further increase in the saturation limit of
Transactions of the ASME
 cured depth may be attributed to continuous scattering effects in
photopolymerized voxel based on the light intensity-dependent re-
fractive index [34–36], study and characterization of which is out
of the intended scope of this paper.
Note: The experimental results presented here are obtained
at numerical aperture (NA) 0.078 and would be valid for
NA < 0.078; however, they would not be valid for NA signifi-
cantly higher than that used. This is because with the higher NA
depth of focus would decrease and would significantly affect the
scattering of light during photopolymerization process.

5 New Cured Depth Model

Experimental results indicate that the dimensionless cured
depth increase linearly first (regime I) and then with slow transi-
tion in regime II saturates in regime III. Straight line with unity
slope (same as Beer–Lambert law) in regime I and a constant in
regime III can represent the curve. Various forms of mathematical
functions are possible to represent slow transition from regimes I
to III. We propose to use tanh function because its inherent nature
makes it possible to present proposed model in simplified form
while effectively capturing the transition in curing characteristics.
Thus, the following form of semi-empirical model of cured Fig. 4 Variation of parameter “a” and “b” against exposure
depth for wide range of energy exposure is proposed for bulk time for TMPTA-based resin
lithography
   
1  tanhðx  cÞ 1 þ tanh 0:97ðx  cÞ
y ¼ ðx  aÞ þb (5) Table 3 Constants and percentage error of proposed cured
2 2 depth model


where y ¼ Cd =Dp is dimensionless cured depth and Resin k1 k2 k3 Percentage error
x ¼ lnðEmax =Ec Þ is dimensionless energy. As x ! 0, the second
component of the model becomes zero and the first component, TMPTA 1.981 1.246 4.361 4.89
HDDA 2.037 1.211 4.295 4.421
hence the model, converges to a straight line y ¼ ðx  aÞ. For
very high values of x, the first component of the model becomes
zero and the second component, hence the model, converges to
y ¼ b, representing the saturation region (Fig. 3(a)). The smooth
transition of dimensionless cured depth from linear increase at depth model under wide range of energy exposure can be used for
lower energy to saturation at higher energy is governed by the different acrylate-base resin displaying similar saturation behavior
value of c. Since the slope of line y ¼ (x  a) is unity, parameter a and exposure time dependencies.
can be interpreted as the dimensionless energy that will initiate of Extensive experimental results and further the proposed cured
curing. In addition, we can see that the proposed model converges depth model point to an important consideration for the bulk
to classic cured depth model (y ¼ x) in the low energy regime lithography process: The independent variables exposure duration
with a ! 0. and power affect the curing depth in a way different from classical
It can be observed from Fig. 3(a) that parameter a, varies for Beer–Lambert law. This model is useful in setting two important
different constant exposure duration lines. This variation in fabrication parameters: spot power and velocity of scan for getting
parameter a is presented against exposure duration t in Fig. 4. the desired spatial variation of energy exposure while fabricating
Thus, we propose this variation in parameter a as exposure dura- the 3D component based on its CAD representation.
tion dependant function: a ¼ k1 ½1  expðk2 tÞ, where k1 and k2
are constants, which are found to be 1.981 and 1.246, respectively, 6 Fabrication of Microstructures
by minimization of error between the predicted and experimental
This section first presents a microstructure fabricated by con-
values of parameter a. Figure 4 shows that the model accurately
ventional MSL to analyze its features in comparison with the
represents variation in parameter a. Note that the nature of varia-
microstructures fabricated by bulk lithography. Figure 5 shows
tion in the proposed parameter a is similar to the solution of first-
SEM image of the lateral surface of the microstructure fabricated
order diffusion equation [37]. This observation is in line with our
by conventional scanning MSL system with constant velocity of
discussion based on diffusion effects to explain the rightward shift
scan: 0.8 mm/s. Image of the fabricated test structure clearly
of cured depth characteristic lines. Furthermore, on the similar
shows a step corresponding to each of the layers along the direc-
lines, we propose the following time-dependant function of
tion of stacking (z-direction). Furthermore, due to line-by-line
parameter b, which governs the saturation depth in the curing phe-
scanning of the laser beam, steps (along y-direction) on each of
nomenon: b ¼ k3  k1 expðk2 tÞ, where, k3 is constant, which by
the scan planes are also observed. However, due to bigger spot
similar process of minimization of error, is found to be 4.361.
size (6 lm) as compared to the scan pitch (5 lm), the steps along
Similar experiments and their investigation are performed on
y-direction become insignificant.
the HDDA-based resin. Figure 3(b) shows experimental results of
In bulk lithography, because of the smooth spatial variation in
dimensionless cured depth against dimensionless energy at
the energy dose, no stepping effect is expected to be seen in the
constant exposure duration for HDDA-based resin. Observing the
z-direction. The generalized process plan developed for the fabri-
characteristic cured depth results of TMPTA (Fig. 3(a)) and
cation of microstructure using bulk lithography consist of follow-
HDDA resin (Fig. 3(b)), similar trend in the curing phenomenon
ing steps
can be interpreted. Table 3 list the constants k1, k2, k3, and maxi-
mum percentage error in the proposed model, which are found to 1. Preparation of CAD model of desired microstructure.
be almost same for both the resins. Hence, the proposed cured 2. Determination of scan pitch based on cured line width, lw.

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 Fig. 5 SEM image of lateral surface of the 3D microstructure
fabricated using conventional scanning MSL

3. Slicing (linear or circular) of CAD model according to

selected scan pitch as per strategy shown in Fig. 1(a) for
bulk lithography.
4. Development of database of desired depth variation for each
of the scan path.
5. Selection of constant scan speed, Vs.
6. Selection of depth characteristic curve considering the expo-
sure duration at a spot to be t ¼ ðlw =Vs Þ.
7. Conversion of depth data obtained in step 4 into the corre-
sponding energy and hence intensity of exposure (given scan
speed as in step 5) according to the curve selected in step 6.
8. Conversion of intensity of exposure in step 7 to AOM sig-
nals according to AOM attenuation characteristics [24]. This
signal is to be given for imposing spatial variation of energy
dose at constant speed.
The most practical process strategy for controlling the energy
exposure by varying the laser power using AOM at constant ve-
locity of scan is used for the fabrication [19]. The constant veloc-
ity of scan, 0.8 mm/s, is selected for the fabrication of
microstructure using bulk lithography.
SEM image of the first test structure: a sinusoidal profile cylin-
drical lens is presented in Fig. 6(a) along with an inset showing
the corresponding CAD model (refer inset I of Fig. 6(a)). CAD
model of the structure is prepared for the maximum cured depth
of 350 lm over a base of 400 lm. Smooth surfaces with no step-
ping effect are observed on the fabricated microstructure spanning
the cured depth of about 357 lm (refer inset II of Fig. 6(a)). SEM
image of another microstructure fabricated by bulk lithography
with higher depth is shown in Fig. 6(b) along with the correspond-
ing CAD model (refer inset I of Fig. 6(b)). This second test struc-
ture is prepared for the cured depth spanning 625 lm over a base
of 400 lm. Surfaces with no stepping effects are observed as
expected for the obtained average maximum cured depth of
631 lm (refer inset II of Fig. 6(b)). However, surfaces display
unusually high roughness value, not planned in the original CAD
model. The interesting phenomenon can be attributed to the possi-
ble multiple scattering of the light due to (a) continuous change of
refractive index and (b) due to already fabricated microstructure.
Refractive index has been shown to be a function of intensity ear-
lier [34–36]. Study of this phenomenon and fabrication of micro-
textured surfaces for various applications is left for further
investigation.
Fig. 6 SEM image of the variable depth microstructure (sine
wave) using bulk lithography corresponding to (a) regime I and
(b) regime II
Another variation of the proposed bulk lithography process
is used for the fabrication of an axisymmetric microstructure.
Scanning of the laser beam in polar coordinates as against the
Cartesian coordinates is used for the same. To fabricate a micro-
structure (Fig. 7) resembling a circular Fresnel lens, first, the CAD
model is prepared with three radial segments of 300 lm each hav-
ing cured depth variation spanning from 225 to 450 lm (inset I of
Fig. 7). Next, the CAD model is sliced in the circular direction.
Appropriate variation in the energy exposure in the radial direc-
tion in accordance with the proposed model (Eq. 5) is then
planned and executed, while circular slices (6 lm thick and of uni-
form depth) are being fabricated. Figure 7 shows the SEM image
of the final fabricated microstructure. The cured depth variation
spanning 213–447 lm is observed on the fabricated structure.
Furthermore, the surface roughness effect at the circles of higher
depth is also observed on this microstructure. Overall depth char-
acterization of test structures (Figs. 6 and 7) fabricated using bulk
lithography show that the actual fabricated dimensions are within
6% of the desired dimensions.
The fabrication results and cured depth characterization points
to the various benefits of the bulk lithography over other single
layer 3D microfabrication process. The advantages are listed
below:

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Fig. 7 Fabrication of microstructure having variable cured
depth along radial direction
1. For fabrication condition having line spacing corresponding
to cured line width, process gives one-to-one correlation
between the desired depth of structure and laser exposure at
any point, which can be directly controlled while the laser is
scanning that point. However, while imposing spatial varia-
tion in projection lithography, because the exposure at a
pixel on the surface of resin is in general function of multi-
ple rays reaching this pixel [15], the inverse problem is diffi-
cult or at times infeasible. In other words, given CAD model
finding process parameters accurately in bulk lithography is
easier.
2. Because of the reason mentioned in the point above, bulk
lithography would reproduce the corresponding CAD model
with a higher accuracy for lower energy of exposure.
3. Curved surfaces with higher surface roughness and hence
enhanced surface area can be fabricated using higher energy
of exposure.
4. Axisymmetric microstructures can be fabricated accurately
using bulk lithography.
In summary, demonstration of 3D microfabrication using linear
and circular scanning of the laser beam using bulk lithography
illustrates flexibility and versatility of the process.
7 Conclusions
This paper presented the process characterization of bulk
lithography for fabrication of 3D microstructures in a single layer
scan. Experimental characterization of unconstrained depth photo-
polymerization upon exposure to Gaussian laser beam exhibits
three different regimes of cured depth. The proposed model is
demonstrated to capture these regimes accurately and, hence, is
useful in imposing the spatial variation of exposure required in the
process. The process opens new avenues to fabricate controlled
geometry lenses, micromirrors, flow paths, free form surfaces (in
regime I), and so on for various applications. The process also
shows the capability to fabricate curved microtextured surfaces in
regime II. Such microtextured surfaces provide multifold
enhancement in surface area. Hence, they may attract applications
in several areas including biosensor (multiple sites enhance sensi-
tivity), microheat exchangers, tissue engineering (scaffold devel-
opment and cell substrate interaction). Limitations of the bulk
lithography include limit on the fabricated cured depth (saturation
effects in regime III) and the difficulty in the fabrication of over-
hanging components.
Journal of Micro- and Nano-Manufacturing
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Acknowledgment
Authors would like to acknowledge Mr. Raj Mashruwala for
his generous donation to carry the research work in Suman Mash-
ruwala Advance Microengineering Laboratory, Department of
Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
(http://www.me.iitb.ac.in/mems/). They also thank Center for
Research in Nanotechnology and Sciences of IIT Bombay for pro-
viding the scanning electron microscope for imaging the
microcomponents.
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