Gotham Silicon

Ultra High Resolution Printing Services

Price: $850 per plate + $0.10 per million pixels

Processing time: 1 week

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The entire patterned photomask.
A 420-page book
A page of a book viewed under a microscope.
The first page of a 420 page book, viewed under a microscope.

How?

Our process involves etching your design into a thin layer of chromium metal that sits atop a transparent quartz substrate. The chromium blocks light, creating a permanent, high-contrast black and white image. We achieve a remarkable resolution of 33,866 DPI, which corresponds to a pixel size of just 750nm by 750nm. These photomasks are the same kind used in industrial lithography processes to transfer patterns onto photosensitive materials.

FAQ

Q: What formats do you accept?
A: We can directly accept monochrome PNG, GIF, TIFF, or JPG image files, and PDF, DOC, or TXT text files. We can help you to prepare your content for this process (these are VERY big files!).
Q: What are the dimensions of the largest possible image?
A: 160,866 x 160,866 pixels
Q: Is the text readable?
A: At 8px, the text is only readable under a high-power microscope. You can use bigger font sizes to make the text readable under, say, a high quality loupe or magnifying glass. We can help you pick the best size font for your content and application.
Q: Is the image positive or negative?
A: Any pixel that is ON in your file will be chrome and any pixel that is OFF will be transparent. The chrome is both opaque and reflective, so the image will look positive if front illuminated and negative if rear illuminated. It is kind of like 35mm negative film, except the chrome is mirror reflective rather than matte like film.
Q: What is it made of?
A: The image is etched into an opaque layer of chrome metal (125nm thick) on top of a sheet of quartz glass.
Q: How do you ship?
A:For USA orders, we will ship overnight via UPS, FedEx, or USPS (your choice). For overseas orders, please get in touch to make arrangements for the best option for your country.
Q: Can you do color?
A: We actually can do color (even structural coloration!), but that is much more complicated (and so will be much more expensive), so get in touch if you are interested.
Q: What does the ordering process look like?
A: When you click the buy button above and make payment, you will get an email from us with a link to upload your file. Once we get your file, we will generate a proof image for your approval. Once you approve the proof, we will add your job to the queue and let you know when it will be ready to ship.
Q: Is there a money back guarantee?
A: We will happily issue a full refund up until the day we start physically making your design, but once we begin the production process then you are on the hook (unless, of course, the image ends up not matching your approved proof or there are any quality problems!). Ultimately, we want you to be happy, so we will do everything possible to make sure you get what you wanted.
Q: I know what I want to print, but I am not sure how to get it into a file that I can submit to you.
A: We can help with this! We have experience with printing everything from ultra-hires satellite photos to micrometer-sized board games, so we can probably figure out how to best print your content. Place your order to start the process – we promise to immediately issue a full refund if it turns out we cannot make the exact thing you want.
Q: Do you offer rush service?
A: Maybe! Right now we are committing to ship all orders within 1 week after receiving your proof approval, but there is a good chance that your order could ship sooner than that. If you absolutely need it in a fixed timeframe, get in touch with us and we will see if we can schedule that for you!
Q: Do you offer pick-up service?
A: If you are in the NYC metro area, we can make arrangements to get your image directly to you without shipping.
Q: Can I come to the clean room and watch my image get processed?
A: Only if you have your own bunny suit and are hydrofluoric acid certified! (Actually we really cannot let you in, sorry. Maybe someday will we have a visitors gallery. 😊)
Q: Do you offer quantity discounts?
A: Maybe! If you need more than 10 copies of the same image, get in touch!
Q: Why are you doing this?
A: We are a brand-new, NYC-based integrated circuit fab! We just got our photolithography process up and running smoothly, so we thought it would be fun to offer this service and see what ideas people come up with. (We are also a startup, so we are excited to start generating some revenue with real customers even before we get the full IC process line into production! 😊)
Q: Can you do X?
A: Maybe! Unlike the big fabs, we are small and fast and fun and excited to try new things, so please get in touch with us!
Q: But what about X?
A: Please get in touch if you have any other questions!