One-dimensional gratings, also called line gratings, have long been used in physics and astronomy for the study of spectra. They have also been applied to optical linear encoders for displacement measurement as a possible alternative to the laser interferometer. In recent years, the linear encoder has been expanded to the planar/surface encoder for multi-axis measurement where a two-dimensional (2D) diffraction grating is employed as the scale grating. Mask-based optical projection lithography is traditionally employed to manufacture the line scale gratings. However, the equipment used in the projection lithography as well as in the related EB mask fabrication is extremely expensive, and can only be operated in large companies. The minimum grating period of a commercial 2D planar scale grating is also limited to several micrometers, resulting in a relatively large signal period of encoder output. To reduce the fabrication cost and the period of a 2D scale grating, it is expected to employ the mask-less laser interference lithography (LIL), which is much more cost-effective in fabricating periodic microstructures with a short grating period down to half of the laser light wavelength. This keynote presents a new multi-beam two-axis Lloyd’s mirror interferometer that can solve the problems inherent in the conventional LIL technique for fabrication of 2D scale gratings. The proposed multi-beam setup is based on the division of wavefront, which has shorter optical path differences and thus is more robust compared with the existing multi-beam techniques based on the division of amplitude. The principle of the two-axis interferometer and some experimental results of fabricating scale gratings with a period of 1 mm or below are described.