ENFOL

Evanescent Near-Field Optical Lithography (ENFOL) has the potential to provide a low cost way to solve the rapid prototyping bottleneck for photonic and related components (e.g. meta-surfaces), undercutting existing alternatives, particularly for low volume runs (5 - 10,000 off).  In particular it should be able to produce arbitrary patterns with ~60nm features on non-planar surfaces, leveraging off existing contact optical lithography infrastructure.  These resolutions are adequate for most commercial photonic components.

Thus ENFOL sits between expensive one‑off Electron Beam Lithography and high cost high volume Nanoimprint Lithography and full foundries.  It promises the potential to speed up product development and research in the rapidly growing photonics/quantum/meta-surface industries.

However the ENFOL process has traditionally suffered from a number of weaknesses that have stood in the way of the development of practical instruments based upon it.  ENFOL Ltd can see ways to overcome these  problems and will undertake the necessary risk reduction to demonstrate this, and then take the resultant instrument/process to market.

Between them Richard Blaikie and Sam Lowrey make up the majority of the shareholding in ENFOL Ltd and Heat and Light is a minority shareholder. Richard is recognised internationally as one of the originators and leading experts on ENFOL and Sam has worked on this with Richard over the years. 

Directors are Richard Blaikie, Sam Lowrey and Simon Arnold.