Design of continuous full-complex modulation proximity printing masks using a quadratic phase distribution

In this work we propose the use of a quadratic phase distribution to implement continuous, full complex amplitude modulation proximity printing masks. The mask is calculated based on the inverse light propagation, determining values of both continuous phase and amplitude modulation. The novelty in this proposition is the use of a quadratic phase distribution in the desired reconstruction pattern in order to achieve a smooth phase and amplitude modulation during the mask calculation. The use of a quadratic phase distribution on the desired reconstruction pattern allows to spread the light of this pattern over a wide region of the calculated proximity-printing mask, generating a magnification of the information to be modulated by the mask. As a consequence, the feature sizes on the mask are larger than in the image reconstruction plane. We believe that this approach will allow the generation of a continuous variation of light in the final required pattern, allowing the generation of arbitrary 3D structures. The smooth phase and amplitude modulation distributions can also minimize the errors caused by using the scalar diffraction to calculate and encode the phase and amplitude modulation of the final mask.