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 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. Traditional machining you’re down in millimeter, sometimes micrometer range, but with photolithography, you’re in the single digit micrometer, sometimes nanometer range.”
During the spring 2025 semester, Peterson received a Get Seeded milestone grant from the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute to develop his Quasi Stepper device.
“I’m really glad that they have Get Seeded here,” Peterson said. “I don’t know if there are many other places where I can convince a bunch of people of my vision and then, in return, receive funding for it. I couldn’t spend $3,000 out of my pocket to build this device, so Get Seeded allowed me the opportunity to do that.”
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.”
Through the process of making the Quasi Stepper, Peterson has contributed his work toward the open-source group Hacker Fab.
“Anybody can download the files,” he said. “Anybody can build it. That’s something that really excites me, the ability to democratize this nanofabrication technique. It’s not something that people have had access to until the last five or so years. And it’s groups like this that are making it accessible. I’m excited to see what that opens up.”
Peterson is building the third version of his device and trying to focus on usability, manufacturability, and accessibility. He is using the Get Seeded funding to help expand their custom circuit boards and optics.
Peterson has worked on his device for more than 600 hours, and he hopes it will help people who could use it.
Learn more about Quasi Stepper on John Petersons Website.
Quasi Stepper is an affordable photolithography device.
