Closing the Gap to E-Beam: The DWL 66+ Now Delivers 200 nm Features and Unrivaled Grayscale

Heidelberg Instruments are excited to announce a massive leap forward for their ultimate lithography research tool. The DWL 66⁺ is now more powerful than ever, featuring two game-changing enhancements that redefine what’s possible with optical lithography.

The 200 nm Frontier: Bridging the Gap to E-Beam

For the most demanding applications in photonics, microelectronics, and quantum devices, achieving the smallest possible feature size is paramount. With the new Write Mode XR, the DWL 66⁺ now delivers a minimum feature size of 200 nm—the highest resolution of any direct-write laser system on the market.

This breakthrough means you can now:

• Fabricate finer, more complex structures than ever before.

• Handle tasks previously exclusive to costly e-beam lithography.

• Dramatically accelerate your development cycles and optimize your lab’s workflow.

  
  

The Power of the Third Dimension: 65,536 Shades of Gray

Modern microfabrication is about more than just 2D patterns. The ability to create complex, smooth, three-dimensional surfaces is critical.

The enhanced DWL 66⁺ masters this challenge with its professional-grade grayscale capability, now offering an unprecedented 65,536 distinct exposure levels. This incredible precision allows you to fabricate intricate 2.5D topographies, such as micro-lenses or blazed gratings, with outstanding surface quality, even in resists up to 150 µm thick. This is the finesse you need to shape light with micro-optics or engineer complex micro-electronics.

Flexibility for Real-World Research

These new features are built upon the proven flexibility of the DWL 66⁺ platform. As a maskless system, it enables instant design changes and rapid prototyping, eliminating costly mask-related delays. It handles virtually any substrate—flat, curved, standard, or exotic.

This isn’t just an upgrade; it’s a gateway to new possibilities in optics, photonics, quantum devices, and beyond.

Concentric rings with a linewidth of approx 200 nm and a pitch of 700 nm in positive photoresist

Blazed gratings at various angles from 10 to 70 degrees

Artistic fish relief in 60 µm thick resist

Radial comb drive exposed in 80 µm thick mr-DWL resist

Pushing the limits with Write Mode XR - lines and spaces with 400 nm pitch

Isolated line exposed with Write Mode XR in 300 nm thick resist.

Half of a concave Fresnel lens with 1 mm diameter.

Combination of an array of micro lenses with a diameter of 20 um

Diffractive Optical Element (DOE) with 2 µm wide pixels in 4 µm thick resist.

Concentric rings with a linewidth of about 200 nm and a pitch of 700 nm in positive photo resist

Pushing the limits with Write Mode XR – a 100 nm gap between exposed features is achievable.

Fraunhofer logo across a 500 µm high etched side wall with 55° slope.

225 nm wide and 850 nm high ridges with 2 um pitch remaining after exposure of the spaces in between

Contact us today for more information.