EV Group Partners with SCHOTT on Lithography

EV Group (EVG) has partnered with SCHOTT to demonstrate the readiness of 300-mm nanoimprint lithography (NIL) for high-volume patterning of high-refractive index glass wafers used in the manufacture of waveguides/light guides for next-generation augmented/mixed reality headsets.

The partnership combines EVG’s proprietary SmartNIL process and SCHOTT RealView high-refractive index glass wafers, and will be carried out in EVG’s Austrian facility. SCHOTT will showcase the technology at the China International Optoelectronic Expo (CIOE), to be held Sept. 4-7.

The use of NIL to pattern glass substrates with structures for photonics applications has been limited to 200-mm substrates. This past June, EVG introduced the HERCULES NIL 300mm, which brings SmartNIL into 300-mm manufacturing to support production needs for a variety of devices and applications, including optical devices for AR, MR, and virtual reality headsets, as well as 3D sensors, biomedical devices, nanophotonics, and plasmonics.