Photolithography

Photolithography is a process used in the publishing industry, involving light to transfer patterns onto substrates when manufacturing integrated circuits. The process dates back to 1796 when lithography was used as a low-cost method to publish theatrical works by Alois Senefelder. It was later developed in 1959 by Mohamed M. Atalla which is the process that is currently used. Photolithography is a more convenient process than typographers. In his book, Robinson writes, “The original purpose of type was simply copying. The job of the typographer was to imitate the scribal hand in a form that permitted exact and fast replication. Dozens, then hundreds, then thousands of copies were printed in less time than a scribe would need to finish one. This excuse for setting texts in type has disappeared. In the age of photolithography, digital scanning and offset printing, it is as easy to print directly from handwritten copy as from text that is typographically composed” (Robinson 18).