Scanning electron-beam lithography

Scanning electron beam lithography is the most widely used technique for nanostructuring surfaces beyond the optical resolution hmit. The resist used is polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA). 

Marrian C R K, Perkins F K, Brandow S L, Koloski T S, Dobisz E A and Calvert J M 1994 Low voltage electron beam lithography in self-assembled ultrathin films with the scanning tunneling microscope Appi. Rhys. Lett. 64 390... 

Sun, S., and G.J. Leggett. 2004. Matching the resolution of electron beam lithography by scanning near-field photolithography. Nano Lett. 4 1381-1384. 

Characteristics. Electron-beam exposure experiments were carried ut by using a prototlype HL-600 Hitachi Electron-Beam Lithography System which is a vector scanning type variable-shaped electron-beam machine. The acceleration voltage was 30 kV. Resist films were formed on silicon wafers by spin-coating and prebaked at 80 C for 20 min before exposure. 

In electron-beam direct-write lithography, the scanning electron beam of the exposure systems is focused to a small spot that is controlled [i.e., deflected and turned on and off (blanked)] by a computer as it is scanned across the surface of the resist film. Masks are not used in this exposure process. Two beam-forming approaches are employed. The first uses a Gausssian round beam. The second... 

The Cu/epoxy sample used for the above analysis was prepared in a novel way, tailored to get particularly flat and easy-to-scan surfaces. In this recent approach, electron beam lithography (EBL) and the lift-off technique were employed in order to produce well-defined Cu structures [29]. The sample preparation procedure is illustrated in Fig. 8.4 a. 

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