Laboratory for Manufacturing and Sustainability

Plasmonic imaging lithography (PIL) is a new direct-write lithograghy process based on disk drive technology. Using the benchmark of similarly scaled masked and maskless lithography processes, this paper evaluates the operational energy use of PIL, as a component of manufacturing and environmental impact analysis. This study serves two purposes: to inform the sustainable development of this emerging technology, and to identify PIL as most appropriate for prototyping or highly agile manufacturing of 11 or fewer wafers per design change.