A new way of manufacturing high resolution optical encoders by nanoimprint lithography

Autorea: S. Merino, A. Retolaza, A. Juarros, S. Landis. Data2007

A process based on nanoimprint lithography is proposed to manufacture linear encoders with a pitch below 1 μm. 

A phase scale and a read head were manufactured by pattern transfer on silicon and glass, respectively. The process developed points out that this technology may be suitable for mass produced encoders with a very high resolution and/or accuracy in the nanoscale range.