In photolithographic processes, the light inducing the photochemical reactions is confined to a small volume, which enables direct writing of micro- and nanoscale features onto solid surfaces without the need of a predefined photomask. The direct writing process can be used to generate topographic patterns through photopolymerization or photo-cross-linking or can be employed to use light to generate chemical patterns on the surface with high spatial control, which would make such processes attractive for bioapplications. The prospects of maskless photolithography technologies with a focus on two-photon lithography and scanning-probe-based photochemical processes based on scanning near-field optical microscopy or beam pen lithography are discussed.

中文翻译：

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有了光：通过无掩模光刻技术创建微米和纳米结构的前景

在光刻工艺中，引起光化学反应的光被限制在很小的体积内，这使得可以将微米级和纳米级特征直接写在固体表面上，而无需预定的光掩模。直接书写过程可用于通过光聚合或光交联产生拓扑图案，或可用于在高度空间控制的情况下使用光在表面上产生化学图案，这将使这种过程对于生物应用具有吸引力。讨论了无掩模光刻技术的前景，该技术集中于基于扫描近场光学显微镜或束笔光刻的双光子光刻和基于扫描探针的光化学过程。