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Sept. 2, 2003 — Focal Point Microsystems LLC of Tuscon, Ariz., believes its technology ends the quest for cost-effective nanoscale lithography for MEMS devices — an elusive industry Holy Grail.
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Focal Point is one of a number of companies — including a joint venture by Micronic Laser Systems AB of Sweden and ASML Holding NV of the Netherlands — pursuing maskless lithography for production of microscopic devices.
The firm is developing a bench-top fabrication instrument called the 3DLM. Its underlying technology “is basically like having the ability to produce a book without having to print one page at a time,” said Alex Mautner, the company’s chief executive. The 3DLM uses lasers to etch microscopic 3-D images in photosensitive materials developed at the University of Arizona by scientists Seth Marder and Joe Perry.
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The lasers are guided by the computer-aided design (CAD) programs used to design the 3-D structures. The beams induce chemical reactions that harden the proprietary two-photon absorbing materials into microscopic objects. “Then, you take the material, pass it through a simple wash process, and you’re left with a 3-D object,” Mautner said, including everything from devices with freely moving, interlocking parts to microscopic molds.
The proprietary materials include plastics, biopolymers and metals, Perry said, adding that the company’s microfabrication technology can be applied to a host of industries, including MEMS, photonics, microfluidics and tissue engineering.
At this point, microscopic 3-D devices are fabricated by piling up layers of material with designs etched into them to create the final structure. Each layer represents a separate pass of the lithographic tools. It’s much like painting a colorful pattern on a wall. Applying each color requires you to mask off a different area and make a separate pass with a paint roller.
In microfabrication, multiple passes over expensive photomasks create the tiny structures. Focal Point’s technology uses a single pass, cutting costs and speed production time — especially important in prototyping, Mautner said.
If it proves out, “the 3DLM technology could give a nice push to the commercial success of MEMS by lowering the barrier to new uses of MEMS,” said Patric Salomon, a Berlin-based microsystems consultant. However, he added, commercial success will depend on the cost of the materials and equipment, the usefulness of CAD tools, and mainly “on the transferability of a design from this 3DLM process, if used for prototyping, to a mass-fabrication batch process — typical semiconductorlike manufacturing.” If 3DLM proves more cost-effective at high volume, it could replace those “traditional” mass-fabrication processes.
The technological challenge ahead is to make the process work at ever-smaller resolutions. “We’ve been able to make features as small as 200 nanometers, but we think we can go smaller, below 100 nanometers,” Perry said. “We’re on the boundary.”
The company has four contracts totaling about $750,000 — one with a graphics firm in Europe, another with a Seattle electro-optics company and two with the U.S. Defense Department — in which it is creating custom microstructures, Mautner says.
“The microsystems industry is about $40 billion a year in size,” he added, so imagining even a 1 percent share of the market leaves him very optimistic that the company’s revenues will be on the macro scale.
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Company file: Focal Point Microsystems LLC
(last updated Sept. 2, 2003)
Company
Focal Point Microsystems LLC
Headquarters
University of Arizona Science and Technology Park
9040 S. Rita Rd. Suite 2250
Tucson, Ariz., 85747
History
The company’s technology stems from optical science research completed by co-founders Seth Marder and Joe Perry. The company was spun off from Arizona Microsystems in 2002.
Industry
Microfabrication
Small tech-related products and services
The company’s system uses computer-guided lasers to “write” 3-D microstructures, allowing complex devices to be created in a single step. This maskless process, which eliminates the need for photolithography, is usable across a variety of industries. Though it primarily offers contract microfabrication services, FP Micro is developing a benchtop 3DLM system to create micro- and nanostructured prototypes in one step.
Investment history
The company has received seed funding from its founders and has opened a business line of credit.
Revenue
Approximately $750,000
Selected strategic partners and customers
U.S. Department of Defense (two contracts)
Selected competitors
Although Focal Point’s specific technology is unique at the moment, the micro- and nanolithography niches are quite active. Selected companies include:
Goals
“Our mission is to create the first single-unit microfabrication system to produce nano- and microstructures,” said CEO Alex Mautner. “In the short term, that means testing the 3DLM alpha model and proving its effectiveness by successfully completing current contracts.”
Why they’re in small tech
“It’s kind of a no-brainer. Why sell bagels? Anybody else can do that. Our technology outperforms anything else that is similar to it by numbers in the hundredfold,” said Mautner.
What keeps them up at night
“Nothing. We don’t foresee any problems because we’re offering a platform solution to a variety of industries — MEMS, telecom, biotech,” Mautner said. “If there [were] stagnation in one sector, we would still be selling our system to other sectors.”
Recent articles
Focal Point is targeting 3-D microfabrication
Contact
— Research by Gretchen McNeely