While finishing a degree in chemical engineering with a minor in math at the University of Utah, John Peterson pursued a fascination with photolithography and launched the Quasi Stepper, a project that aims to make possible the creation of micro- and nanometer-scale patterns essential for fabricating components used in chips and other advanced devices.
With a personal fascination for photolithography, Peterson started the Quasi Stepper as a personal project and turned it into a reality with help from the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute, senior capstone project funding, and the group Hacker Fab.
“In the advanced manufacturing world, there is a need for the ability to manufacture really small scales,” Peterson said. “We see this in how they make the chips inside our phones. The technique used to do that is photolithography. In traditional machining you’re down in millimeter, sometimes micrometer range, but with photolithography, you’re in the single digit micrometer, sometimes nanometer range.”
Photolithography is something that has interested Peterson since he watched a video about it on YouTube. He wanted to try and make a device that would not be as expensive as lab photolithography devices, which can start around $150,000.
“My device is called the Quasi Stepper, and it’s based on an open-source project by a group called Hacker Fab,” he said. “The device is an affordable photolithography device targeted towards startups, small-scale research teams, and individual researchers who can’t afford traditional photolithography tools. The Quasi Stepper uses light and a light-sensitive chemical to create patterns and shrink them. Using that, people are able to machine at a scale far smaller than you can otherwise.”
Peterson has worked on his device for more than 600 hours, and he hopes it will help people who could use it.
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