photolithography

[foh-toh-li-thog-ruh-fee]

noun

1. the technique or art of making photolithographs.

2. Electronics.,  a process whereby integrated and printed circuits are produced by photographing the circuit pattern on a photosensitive substrate and chemically etching away the background.

photolithography

/ ˌfəʊtəʊlɪˈθɒɡrəfɪ, ˌfəʊtəʊˌlɪθəˈɡræfɪk /

noun

1. Often shortened to: photolitho. a lithographic printing process using photographically made plates

2. electronics a process used in the manufacture of semiconductor devices, thin-film circuits, optical devices, and printed circuits in which a particular pattern is transferred from a photograph onto a substrate, producing a pattern that acts as a mask during an etching or diffusion process See also planar process

Other Word Forms

• photolithographic adjective
• photolithographer noun
• photolithographically adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of photolithography¹

First recorded in 1855–60; photo- + lithography

Example Sentences

"Or the next generation of chipmaking equipment, because one of the few areas where Europe has foothold is in photolithography - the machines that make the really top-end chips."

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The Cambridge-developed biocompatible devices -- just a few millionths of a metre thick -- are made using advanced photolithography and thin film deposition techniques, and require minimal power to function.

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In this research, the team opted for deep-UV photolithography, a process using shorter wavelengths of ultraviolet light.

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The most effective coating turned out to be a polymer hydrogel, the surface of which is covered in tiny ridges thanks to microtextured moulds, which the researchers fabricated using photolithography.

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The latest conflict is over photolithography, which uses ultraviolet light to etch circuits into silicon on a scale measured in nanometers, or billionths of a meter.

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